The Game
by Ita-chan18
Summary: In an alternate world there are ten powerful beings that are slowly being hunted down by a group called the hunters. What is the hunters plans for these beasts? And what happens when one of them is pregnant and her best friend betrays her by joining them? What will happen?
1. Chapter 1

The game:

A/n: Who! Another fic XD well, I had people ask about my story..SO here it is. I'll post it on since this is the old version, and uses a lot of names from anime(test drive names haha) so here's the prologue.

Prologue:

My eyes widened in shock as I stared at the bloody figure that hovered protectively over my body. Blood and sweat dripped from his face, and onto mine. I quivered, knowing that he was seconds from death, but also weirdly comforted knowing that he was holding onto his life, despite the immense pain he must have been in, just so he could tell me one last thing.

"I….Love you…" He whispered as his body shook more. I bite my quivering lip. I couldn't say anything. His eyes began to close, his body growing weaker from the blood loss caused by the fight that just happened. Again, despite all the pain he must have been in, he managed a weak, tentative smile." I….Love you…" His voice came out as a weak whisper, and I felt tears well up in my eyes. His eyes closed again, but this time they didn't open back up. The tears in my eyes were building like an over-filled dam that was ready to burst at any moment. He finally fell on top of my own body. I heard the breath leave me as the dead weight of his body constricted my breathing. Memoires swirled around in my mind, and I felt the tears that had been building up finally spill over as I finally began to register the total weight of his dead body on top of mine. My muscles screamed at me to push him off, but I just couldn't do it. I wanted to hold on to him, even if it was just a moment longer. It took me a moment before my muscles listened to my screaming thoughts, and I was able to gently push his body off of mine. I stood up slowly, and glared at the killer, but he didn't see my tears thanks to the rain. I wiped at my face to rid myself of the tears. I drew my own bloody blade, and held it beside me. The killer smiled mockingly at me as he, too, drew up his bloody blade, ready for his second victim. I looked back at my comrade's body, fueling my anger so that I could finish the fight, and then glared angrily at his killer.

"Let's finish the game…." I whispered angrily as I ran towards the new found enemy….


	2. how it all begins

**Chapter one: How It All Begins**

**A/n: Well, I hope you guys all enjoy this! It's crappy, but it's my first baby lol**

** "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.**"- **Seneca **

I smiled slightly to myself as I looked out the window that over saw the busiest part of the village I'd just returned to. So many memories went through my head as I recognized a pedestrian or two. I sighed again as I looked back in the mirror, and saw my own reflection. I then began to wonder how I would look to them if I were to just show myself to them. Would they even recognize me as the same scrawny, flat chested, bossy yet awkward girl I use to be? I sighed as I looked at myself again. No, I defiantly looked different. I barely recognized myself.

I brushed through my long, curly dark hair, and gently placed the purple headband on my head. I brushed through my long hair again, and then stood up. Indeed, a great deal had changed about me since my pre-teen years. I was more womanly, as far as my looks were considered. My hair was long, and my style of clothing had definitely changed. I looked at my blue shirt that clung nicely to my curves, and the short black skirt that clung to my hips, and frowned slightly when I noticed a wrinkle in the skirt. I bent over carefully, and smoothed it out. I stood up straight, and looked at my appearance again. Satisfied with everything, I finally walked out the door, and down the hallway.

As I walked down the long, dark hallway I began to notice just how much dust had collected in the hallways since I was last here. Cleaning was definitely due soon. I smiled as I passed by old photographs, but one in particular made me stop. It was a dusty old picture of my old team. I gently picked it up, and blew away the dust. Then I dusted away the cobwebs, and when it was clean enough, I smiled at the picture, just lost in the memories of back then….

After a moment of nostalgia, I set the picture down, and strode to the kitchen. The kitchen smelt of my brother's usual cooking. The delicious aroma's enveloped me as I sat down to eat. I knew something was wrong as my brother sat across from me, giving me the solemn look he always gave me when he had bad news, but this level of seriousness I hadn't seen since he told me about our parent's deaths….

"What's up?" I finally inquired, not being able to hold in the curiosity anymore. He sighed, and shook his head. I exhaled, and looked at him, momentarily forgetting my breakfast. "Big Brother, if it's something I need to know, you have to tell me." He nodded, and gazed at me.

"Yeah, you're right. You're no longer a child who doesn't understand the situation, and what the circumstances are, you do need to know." His piercing, yet emotionless grey eyes glanced away for a moment, then looked back at me." But that doesn't mean that I want to tell you. I'm still you're elder brother, and I'll always want to protect you." I looked at him confused, not really understanding where this was all coming from. What news did he have to tell me? What could be so important, that it bought out this level of seriousness I had never seen from my brother? However, despite the curiosity I knew was shining brightly in my eyes, he remained silent for a few minutes; his own deep green eyes looked as if they were in deep thought. I was getting impatient with all of this.

"Tenzo! Quit beating around the bush, and just tell me what you need to tell me, and don't you dare say it's nothing. I know that look, and I know it must be bad so just tell me." He nodded again, and looked down. After a moment, he looked up at me.

"The Hunters…. They got Hisoka…." He uttered softly, slowly looking me straight in the eyes. It took a moment for those words to register in my brain, but once they had, my breath became ragged. My heart stopped beating for a moment. They got Hisoka? No it wasn't possible. I simply couldn't believe it. Hisoka was always a pillar of strength; nobody could take him down….

"No…..They…. They couldn't have gotten Hisoka….Not him….." Tenzo sighed, and looked away. My eyes narrowed slightly as I searched for something out of place. Anything that could tell me he was joking. Hell, I was half expecting him to crack my favorite smile, and tell me he was joking, and that Hisoka was really coming over for a visit like he normally would. Or maybe he'd wait until later when Hisoka knocked on the door, and I went to answer it, and there he stood. Then, my brother would laugh at me for being foolish and actually believing him. Believing something so stupid, and then Hisoka would laugh too. But I knew better than to believe any of the scenes I pictured in my mind. My brother would never joke about something this serious. I sighed, and shook my head, but I still couldn't believe it. Not Hisoka...

"That's why I couldn't bear to tell you the truth, Little Sister….. You felt you had something in common with him because he was one of your kind, and I'm sure Tenchi must have felt the same way, and now you're pillar of strength is gone. The loss must be great." My elder brother's false sympathy voice made me want to punch him. I knew how others viewed our kind, and his tone only hurt me by the fact that he felt the same way…. Did that mean that all this time my brother has secretly hated me? The thought saddened me greatly.

"I gotta do something. I can't leave him to die…." I whispered very softly, my eyes downcast.

"What could _you_ possibly do little sister? The Hunters are looking for you too. Why risk _your_ life to save _his_? Besides, we got _our_ _own _issues to deal with here." I glared at him, my anger flared up at his words. I couldn't leave Hisoka hanging like that! My eyes narrowed as I stared my brother down. I would never, ever, ever turn my back on people I cared about, and how dare he think I would do so. Did he not know me at all?

"He's a friend, Tenzo! I can't leave my friend to die in that horrible place!" Tenzo shrugged indifferently. My anger flared even more. Did he not care at all about the boy he once called his brother?

"His village will save him. Besides, you can't go alone." He said coolly growled, and slammed my fists on the table. I was damn near past my boiling point. Guess that's really where I and my big brother differed. I was always hot tempered, and easy to anger. My brother was the completely opposite. He was always level-headed, cool under pressure, and it was very difficult to anger him. But at that moment, it didn't matter to me. He had pushed me past my boiling point.

"Dammit Tenzo! His own village has been trying to kill him since he was a young boy! And now you think they would just save him!? Just like that?! How stupid are you?" Tenzo gave me a stern look. Immedtaly, my anger almost completely ebbed away.

"Haine, watch your mouth. Remember who you're talking to." He said in an icy tone. I felt my anger waver even more, but it soon flared up again.

"I don't really care Tenzo! You're telling me to just forget about Hisoka! I just leave him to die! I owe my life to him!" I yelled, scooting the chair back with such force that it fell to the ground with an audible noise. He looked at the chair, and then looked at me with a scowl.

"Maybe you do," he looked at me with a hard look that I'd never seen before," but what can you do? You're sick, and pregnant, and moreover, there's nothing you can do." I glared at my brother.

"Never, ever tell me I can't do something Big Brother. I won't let my friend die." I balled my fists up, ready to knock him out.

"Then, tell me what you plan on doing?" I sighed, and walked out of the room. This was so much to deal with….. I needed air….Away from here….

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

News travels fast in this big city. I know that may sound stupid, since most people use that when referring to gossip around a small town, but in this case it was true.

After all, it wasn't every day that a Chosen One left their home village, where they were supposed to be kept under strict watch and care, went to another village, left that village, and became involved in some secret organization that no one really knew much about. It was pretty amazing if you stepped back, and thought about it. It was like some horrible soap-opera plot.

The only group that was more mysterious than this new group was another group that calls themselves The Hunters. They had more of a reputation than the mysterious group Haine had gotten herself into…..

I sighed heavily as I came back to reality, and pull my dark, long coat over my body. I was absolutely excited about Haine being back, but there were more important matters that I had to attend to, so I was walking away when I spotted her. My heart pounded faster as she stopped, and looked at me. She smiled widely, and began walking towards me. My heart pounded even faster, and I began to feel like I was having a heart attack.

"Hey Shinobu!" I smiled slightly as she hugged me."I've missed you sooo freakin' much!" After another moment, she pulled back, and looked at me." Maaan, I guess I'm not the only that's changed… You're now taller than me." Haine giggled slightly, and then touched the rim of my glasses softly." Then again, some things never do change… you still have the long coat, the glasses." She sighed as her hands gently tightened around my glasses, like she was going to take them off.

"What…. Are you doing?" I finally asked, uncomfortably, when she didn't remove her hands from my glasses. At that point, her eyes got a soft glaze to them, and she looked far off. I stiffened up, not use to the intimate feeling contact. I wasn't sure what she was up to. Didn't she still hate me for what I did to her? Did she still have feelings for me? What the hell was going on with her? However, the moment didn't last. After a few more moments, she sighed, and looked at me.

"Just wish I could see your eyes…. Even if it was just for a moment. I remember you always had the most beautiful blue eyes I'd ever seen, then you… started wearing these glasses, and then," her hands moved from my glasses, and gently caressed my face, down my neck, and shoulders, and finally rested at my chest. She clenched at my jacket. And once again it all felt a bit too "friendly" for me." You started wearing this jacket. I don't even recognize you anymore. If I hadn't sensed your aura, I wouldn't recognize you…" I shrugged, and gently pushed her hands away from my jacket. She sounded so sad, wistful even. Though, I did have to admit to myself, I did miss my old self, but there were reasons for me dressing like I did. I just wasn't ready to tell her, or anyone else for that matter, just yet.

"No one's gonna see my eyes again, you should know that…" I said swiftly, though it sounded a bit harsh to me, and hoped she would drop the subject. Haine sighed sadly, and nodded in understanding. I guessed that she, too, had heard the rumors of why I wore what I wore. I mean, it was everywhere at that point, but it always made me laugh when someone would ask me if the rumors were true. Of course, I never answered them. It wouldn't matter anyway, nobody would ever believe me if I told them the real reason why I wore all this….

"Yeah… I know…. But nothing wrong with hoping right?" She smiled slightly as she looked up at me. Her eyes, and smile, and tone all had the faintest hint of hope to them. I didn't want to break those hopes, but then again, I couldn't let them get too high. So, I shrugged again, and looked away.

"Guess not…." I said faintly, glancing back at her. Haine sighed again, and put her hands on my face as her grin fell from her face. I looked at her surprised, but her sad look quickly turned into a scowl.

"Are you mad at me still? Look, what Haku said wasn't true, and-"

"I'm not mad at you, and I know he lied about what you did. You don't need to tell me that…" My voice trailed off. How could I explain it all to her? It's not like she'd ever understand anyways.

"Then what the hell is wrong with you?" She all but screamed at me. Clearly, she was not over what had happened all those years ago…

I looked back at her, and just stared at her for a moment, trying to find a way to voice my feelings to her. Did she truly not know why I wasn't saying much to her?

"It's nothing." I smiled at her." So what have you been up to since we last seen each other? Anything exciting?" Haine shrugged. _Maybe it's a dumb question_, I thought to myself.

"I guess. I joined soldiers for hire just about two years ago, and just now got accepted as a member." My eyebrows shot up in surprise. My father had told me a lot about this group.

Soldiers for Hire, a relatively new group of talented soldiers that was founded by the great Master Hajime, was the most selective group to get into in the world. You had to extremely talented solider to be even considered for the job, and even then you had to pass a rigorous and tough test. Then you were put on trial time, from what I heard can last anywhere from two weeks to two years, where you constantly sparred against a chosen opponent with equal abilities. Then, you were paired into groups of four, and sent on small missions, if that group completed the missions successfully, and efficiently, the group was then split apart and each was given a single partner whose abilities flattered that of the others. Some people argued over the effectiveness of this group, while others stated that it was a usefulness group in these times of war. Nobody, except for those who where in higher positions of power, really knew much about this group of soldiers from around the world, so of course it caused many to worry, but people like me knew they were nothing to worry about. How Haine managed to survive all that would always be beyond my understanding…

"That's….. That's something you could call a great achievement! From what I heard, that's a very hard group to get into." She nodded, and looked away for a moment before looking back at me.

"Yeah, and the training was brutal, but you already know about this group, and I heard what you're doing. Training under you father, Izumo, in the Interrogation Unit." She grinned, and punched my arm playfully."Anything interesting happen so far?" I smiled slightly. She always was interested in the business my family excelled in, but she never could be a part of it given what she was…

"Guess so, thanks to your organization we got the criminal we've been looking for. We got some good Intel from him. Turns out he was a spy for The Hunters, and well I'm not really suppose to say anything about what he said or what went on. Other than that, we got a few big time criminals, traitors, even a few pirates." Haine smiled widely as if this had excited her, but I knew she was just playing with me. I bet she had been through more shit in her time with the Soldiers for Hire, than I would have in my entire lifetime.

"Woooow! It sounds soooo exciting!" I shrugged slightly at her over excited tone. "But I thought you didn't want to go, and do that sort of thing?" She said in confusion, titling her head slightly.

"Yeaaaah, well my dad wants me to get into the "family business" sooo….." Haine nodded, and looked up at me again. She didn't say anything; she just merely stared at me. I looked back at her, and smiled. "Sooo, did you want to go somewhere, and talk. It's been years since we talked or anything." She smiled, and nodded.

"Yeah, sounds wonderful." I smiled as she grabbed me by the hand, and we walked down the street together.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I walked down the street, not really sure what I where I was suppose to go to look for Haine, but knew that I had to look for her. I had to talk to her. It was absolutely important that I spoke to her. It didn't take me long until I found her. She was walking down the street with Shinobu, both were talking and laughing. I felt something well up inside me that was new. No it wasn't anger, but it was something I hadn't felt before. Jealously? My eyebrows scrunched together at this new feeling, but quickly shoved it away. Haine was my friend. Nothing more, and nothing less. I sighed, and looked at her. She seemed to have sensed me looking at her. She looked at me almost at the same time I had made up my mind to leave. She smiled widely, and waved at me. I merely looked at her, a blank look in my blue eyes.

"Haruo!"She hugged me tightly, and then pulled back, a frown coming over her pretty face as she looked at my unchanging expression. She had seen it enough times to know that something was wrong. Her light violet eyes seemed to have a subtle hint of blue to them as she tried to search my mind for what was troubling me.

_What's going on, Haruo? You never block any thought from me. Please tell me what's going on._

I felt her whisper gently across my mind. I smiled slightly, and then looked at Shinobu. My smile immediately fell, but he didn't seem to notice, or maybe he didn't care. From the look on his face, I knew he knew something was up, but the silent guy he was, he would never speak of suspicions. Of course, I could also sense that although he knew something was up, he would refuse to leave Haine. I sighed, and looked back into her amethyst eyes, and thought.

_I need to talk to you about that baby. I know you're pregnant. Everyone knows it, but I thought I would visit you personally, and talk to you about it. You know it's dangerous, and it could possibly kill you. You need to get rid of….. Of… of that thing before something happens to you. I'm serious Haine. You're my best friend. I don't want to see you get hurt._

Her eyes hardened as she read my thought. I had realized my mistake then.

_You seriously expect me to do that? How dumb could you be? I could __**NEVER **__do that! And I'm insulted that you would think I could possibly do something so bad! I know the consequences of what I did, ok! I don't need you or anyone else telling me about my "mistake"! Do you got me?!_

I felt her anger hit me like a ton of bricks. I knew she was royally pissed at me, but I wouldn't take back my words. She sensed my resolve not to take back my words, and she also picked up on the fact that I still felt this child was a mistake. I knew everything she felt at that moment, and I understood her resolve. This child meant everything to her. It was the restoration of her clan; her family name could finally be restored to what it once was. This was her pride, and her joy, and she wasn't going to give that up for anything else in the world.

_Good, I'm glad you know how I feel._ She thought brusquely as she left my mind, and continued to walk down the street with Shinobu. I knew just how pointless it would be to try to persuade her to change her mind, so defeated, I walked away. There was nothing else I could have said to her….

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I paced around the room in the run-down hell-hole I was forced to call home as dusk settled over the area. I was fuming over the fact that Haine was late. We were supposed to've trained together hours ago. Knowing her, she probably spaced me too, like she always did.

"Where the fuck is she?! She should have been here by now?!" I seethed as my pacing only quickened.

"Calm down, Haku. I'm sure she has her reason for not showing up." I looked at my level-headed companion, and then glared. Why was he defending her? He shrugged, and looked away. I growled, finally showing my annoyance at his quiet and serious nature.

"Why the hell do you always defend her?! She's an annoying, egotistical, overly joyful, bitch! Haruo, I swear sometimes I just don't understand how you can even stand to be around a snot-nosed, naïve, brat like that!" Haruo's unemotional blue eyes looked at me, and hardened in the slightest way.

"She's just like you, and you can't stand the fact that she is just like you. You claim to have no feelings for her but hatred. Yet, you're always the first to see if she's alright when she comes home from some mission. You constantly insult her, yet you punch someone out who talks bad of her. Or even makes her cry. You say you wouldn't date her if she was the last girl on earth, yet you seem constantly jealous of her and Tenchi's relationship. You can't stand to see her with any other guy. You say you can't stand to have her anywhere near you, yet you always get moody when she's away from you. You have conflicting feelings for her, and you're too damn proud to admit your feelings for her. One day you're going to regret never telling her about your feelings, and when that day comes don't come to me seeking comfort because I'll be the first one who'll be telling, 'you I told you so.'" I looked at him angrily. He'd never said anything like that to me before. However, before I could reply, the door opened, and there, panting, was Haine. I glared at her, the anger from Haruo's speech still ringing in my head.

"Hi guys!" She smiled, and then frowned as she seemed to finally take in the atmosphere of the room. She moved her lips as if she wanted to say something, and then sighed, and looked at me. Her eyes seemed pleading for some kind of clarification, but I merely looked away, still angry at her. She sighed heavily."If I'm bothering you guys I could easily go." I looked at her, hoping she'd leave, but Haruo glared at me, and rose from his seat. He walked over to Haine, and helped her into the house.

"No, don't go. We'd be pleased to have you here." He shot me a bold look, as if he dared me to object. I looked away indigently. I wasn't going to say what I really thought she should do. Haruo would kill me if I hurt Haine. Haine smiled, and sat down on the couch next to Haruo. My lip curled up as she sat down. She looked at us, and sighed.

"Well, I really don't have a lot of time to really explain this, but I guess I gotta get it out." She said casually, as if she had all the time in the world. I sighed impatiently.

"Then, please do so. The faster you get done with your "speech", the sooner you can leave my house." I snarled at her. She looked at me with sad eyes, and then looked at Haruo, who was currently giving me an icy glare.

"Well, it's just that…. Well, I'm pregnant." She paused for effect as she looked at our faces. Like I could care less what she was or wasn't. "And I'm a Solider for Hire…. I'm the Tenth Chosen One, and Tenchi is the Ninth Chosen One. We're both being sought by The Hunters." I looked back at her with cautious eyes. Just where was she going with this?" And, well, I need to leave. Two Chosen Ones in the same place, at the same time, and being together. It's dangerous; Tenchi and I both agree that I need to go away to a safe place by myself." She emphasized the last word. My suspicion immediately grew more, and I straightened out as my eyes zeroed in on Haine.

"So, how does this involve us?" Haruo asked, his voice growing suspicious. Good at least I wasn't the only one suspicious of her fucking motives.

"I need you guys to distract my brother, and Shinobu. If they found out what I'm planning to do, and what the situation at hand is, they'd never let me go. I need to know that I'll have your guy's word that I can trust you guys to help me and Tenchi out." Haine said defensively. I shook my head. I knew there was something up when she walked in the door. She never did anything for any reason or for anyone if she didn't have some other motive in her mind. She looked at us with pleading purple eyes. I sighed heavily. I got the sudden feeling that this wasn't for her, and Tenchi. I got the feeling this was more or less for her, and her own needs. Like always.

"Look, it's you and Tenchi's fault for getting yourselves into this mess. Now you two can figure a way out of it by yourselves. You're a big girl, you can handle yourself, and you don't need us. After all, nobody told you to open your legs now did they." Haine glared at me, her eyes hardening into hard amethyst.

"But I've helped you out many times before! Without asking for anything in return except your friendship, and you even denied me that! Yet I continued to save your ass over and over again! Why do you insist on being this way to me all the time?!" I shook my head, and looked at Haruo, hoping he'd take this on. I simply didn't have the patience to deal with her immature behavior. He looked at her, his blue eyes getting the same look they always did when he was about to break something serious.

"I hate to say it, but he's right Haine. You can't keep depending on us to fix your troubles." She glared at him, her eyes filling with angry tears.

_Don't you __**EVER **__expect me to help you out again!_ I heard her angry voice yell in my head as she ran out the door. I looked at Haruo, hoping he hadn't heard the same voice. The look in his eyes told me had heard. I sat down on the worn down recliner, and looked at the ceiling.

"Do you think Tenzo knows about Haine's… growing problem?" I said in a light, wondering tone as I looked at my friend. He shrugged, and I sighed. Knowing Haine, she probably would never tell him.

"We should probably inform him. Knowing how Haine is, she won't tell him until the last possible moment." I nodded, and looked at him. He had read my thoughts.

"Yeah, and judging from her words just now, she probably won't tell him for a long time." I said as I rose from my seat. Haruo looked at me, and nodded slightly, also rising from his seat. I nodded, and walked out the door, not bothering to see if he was following me.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I didn't need her to voice it, but I could tell something was wrong with Haine. She was always cheerful, and peppy. Today, she was quiet, and sullen. It wasn't like her at all to be that way.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, nudging her gently. She looked at me with sad eyes, and then sighed. I knew then that something was wrong, and she needed to talk about it._ What's going on Haine? You're never, ever like this. Please talk to me about it._ I let the words slip across her mind with softness. She looked at me, her light purple eyes glassy with unshed tears.

_They… The Hunters got Hisoka. Hisoka was always a pillar of strength for us Chosen Ones, he always kept us together, and now? Now he's gone! I know that they need him alive in order to do whatever it is they do to our kind once they capture us, but still… He's my friend! I owe him my freaking life, and nobody is willing to help me help him! Even Tenzo, the person who should be most grateful to him for saving his little sister's life, won't help me!_ I felt the anguish beneath her words, but I didn't need to feel that to know how she feels. In a weird sort of way, we all owed him our lives. He'd saved us all at one point or another. I pulled her into a hug.

_It's ok. We'll figure this out. Believe me, I want to help him._ I felt her being comforted by my words. She looked up at me with a slight smile on her lips.

"I got something important to tell you." She said softly. I smiled at her, tilting my head with curiosity. Her tone was soft, something I hadn't heard from her before.

"What is it?" I asked when she didn't say anything._ I'm pregnant._ I froze slightly, and looked at her shocked. Was she being serious? I mean_, I_ thought we had been careful…. _I'm serious, Tenchi. I'm pregnant, and it's your child._ I smiled at her, and then pulled her into a tighter hug. I was happy about this news. _I'm so glad you're happy._ She said happily, and hugged me back just as tightly as I was hugging her.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I read my book peacefully, happy not to be bothered by my sister's thoughts for once. Sometimes it was such a pain being a Sato. I mean, the ability to read minds was a wonderful gift…. However, having no power to turn it off when it comes to relatives….. Was a pain in the ass. The loud banging on the door disturbed my peacefulness, and I grudgingly walked over to the door. I opened the door, and stared blankly at the two faces that stared back at me. Angry golden-brown eyes and icy, emotionless blue eyes looked back at me.

"Haine's planning on running away. With current events, I don't believe it's sensible for her to do such a thing. You have to converse with her Tenzo. You're the only she heeds anymore." The tall, blonde one stated as his blue eyes looked at me seriously. I sighed, and stepped aside for them to come in. it seemed like we had a lot to discuss. They seemed to take the hint, and walked in.

"She's an idiot. Why do you always want to protect her? It doesn't make sense, Haruo." Golden-brown eyes gave Haruo a hard look as he ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. I shook my head, and motioned for them to sit as I too took a seat. Haku looked at me with a hard look. It was amazing. I was exactly nine centimeters taller than him, yet he acted like he was tougher than me.

"I won't allow you to talk badly about my little sister. Sure, she's reckless and annoying at times, but she's still my little sister, and I won't let you or anyone else talk badly about her. Especially when I'm right here. Do you got it?" Haku's brown-gold eyes hardened, but he nodded slowly. Haruo's light eyes looked between us, and then settled on me.

"He's right though. She is smart, but amazingly stupid. I understand it is within your family's nature to be pompous, but she takes it to a whole new level. It's that arrogance that makes her so stupid. I'm worried for her security. With things progressing as they are….. She could get killed." I looked at Haruo. As always, he spoke with such grandeur, it took me a moment to understand his words. I realized he was right. Haine was so arrogant about her abilities, that it would kill her one day…

"With the current Forest Lord departed, and debates on who's going to be crowned the next Forest Lord, I think it's wise to detain Haine here in the City of Lakes until it is secure for her to move outside of the city limits." I nodded in agreement. He was right. We couldn't afford to let Haine be harmed. Not this far in the game.

"Well…. Where is she now?" I asked softly, looking up at him.

"She's with Tenchi, like always. I heard him say something to Sasuke about going to that one place where their Sensei is buried. Something about this being the anniversary of his death." I nodded my thanks to Haku.

"I'll go get her. She'll likely listen to me if I tell her some untruth, or something." Haruo said as he rose up, and walked out of the door.

"It's strange." Haku said as he looked back at me." Haruo's been acting strange lately. I understand that his family is under investigation, but it's still so strange to see him act the way he does now. Especially when it comes to your sister." I nodded slowly. Normally, Haruo didn't like to be around Haine.

"Well… I'm sure it's nothing." I said as I went back to reading my book.

"I sure hope you're right…. Haruo's one of my closest friends. I don't want to see him head down a dark path again…. I don't think I could take it…" I looked at Haku, surprised. I never knew he cared so much for Haruo. Haku sighed heavily, and stared out the window. After a moment or more staring at him, I went back to reading my book.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I could hardly believe what I was about to do. It's not that I really cared what they thought of me, I just couldn't believe I was about to betray the only place that accepted me. It was my home. Still I had no other choice…. It was the only way to stop The Hunters from attacking The City of Lakes.

I looked for them until I spotted them playing Shogi near The Lake of Remembrance. The sun was high, which set the lake with the most beautiful of colors. I shook my head, and looked at these guys more intently.

The first one was a tall man of at least thirty-seven, with bright red hair that was tied into a ponytail at the knap of his neck. His large green eyes were calculating. His once red robe or I assumed it was once red, had now turned a rusty color from the dust that had settled into its fibers. It took me a moment to realize him as the infamous Daiki. This man was rumored to have once murdered not only his family, but his entire village in no less than three weeks. After that, he went on as nomad, and his past time? Killing, and robbing others. It is said that this man sparked the Sixth Great War, the one we were currently fighting, by killing the Rain Lord, and a number of the Rain's most prominent family called Sato, and framing the Sun Lord. It is also said that this man started the organization known as The Hunters.

Next to him was a considerably younger man, no more than the age of nineteen. His beach-blonde hair was down, and went to his shoulders. He had amazingly pale skin, and striking blue yes. He wore a white shirt that he buttoned only half way down, and blue pants. Both were rather dirty. He was very muscular as well. This man was the equally infamous Hiashi. This man murdered his own wife, who was eight months pregnant, and murdered his two young sons. Before that, he already had a reputation for being a criminal. He was Daiki's right- hand man.

I sighed heavily, and walked towards them. Daiki turned, and looked at me. He smiled friendly at me, and motioned for me to sit by him. Grudgingly, I did so.

"Ahhh, Haruo, before we begin with the serious matters perhaps you can help me win this game?" He spoke with an accent that I didn't recognize, but I looked at the board. It was an easy win. I made one move, and Daiki had the game won. He laughed whole-heartedly, while Hiashi merely glared at me wordlessly." It seems you owe me money Hiashi!" He laughed again, and once again Hiashi said nothing. I got the feeling that Hiashi was one who spoke very little. Daiki looked at me, his face was completely serious." Now, let's start a new game." His once friendly tone had turned serious, and threatening. I felt shivers go down my spine." Haruo, I have valuable information. Something that you may want to know."

"What is it?" I asked as he got out a manila envelope, and handed it to me. I looked at it, and slowly took it.

"It's information about your parents." I looked at him, my expression getting hostel." In that envelope, it tells you what kind of people they are, what they look like. It's everything you could ever possibly want to know about them." My expression suddenly turned to one of shock. How did he get this information?" Now, I know you've wanted revenge against them, and honestly… I don't blame you. They left you abandoned, and because of them you had to work in a house where you were abused very badly." Although I knew this was some kind of bribe, I couldn't resist the temptation. He knew that, and preyed upon it." I could help you achieve your revenge that you so desire." I looked at him, my heart pounding. Something deep down inside of me told me how wrong this was, but I still couldn't resist." Of course, this comes at a small price. I'm sure you understand what that is?" I nodded, and looked at him. Everyone knew what his group of people wanted.

"You want me to help you achieve world domination, and power through the use and control of the Chosen Ten of Hell." Hiashi nodded, and looked at me.

"And you, my friend, are perfect for this. You are very close to the last remaining Chosen Ones. It would be extremely easy for us to capture them. What do you say?" I sighed heavily, and looked down at the envelope in my hands. How could I not agree to do this? But then again, Haine and Tenchi have always been kind to me, how could I just stab them in the back after all they've done for me? Then, again, I've always wanted revenge on my real parents, and if I agreed to do this I would become much stronger than I am now. But if I did, I would be hurting the girl that cared more about me than anyone in my life ever did….. Then again, how could I resist this temptation? I nodded.

"Yes, of course I'll do this…. However I would like to request just one thing…" I asked softly, testing for his reaction.

"What is it?" He asked as if he already knew my question. I looked at him.

"I want to leave a good-bye note to my friends. Then at least they'll know I'm done with them… for good." I said more boldly. Daiki smirked, and nodded.

"Then, we better get to it…." He said as both he, and Hiashi rose from the ground. I nodded, and we walked back to Tenzo's place….


	3. bonds

**Chapter Two: Bonds**

"**The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.**"- **Richard Bach **

**a/n: So..How's everyone enjoying this so far? A lot has changed between now, and this draft, but still..I own everything other than the test names people.**

I sat alone in the meadow, laying down thinking about the past. It seemed like such a peaceful day it was hard to believe that a war was being fought. Hell, it was hard to believe half of the crazy stuff that was going on at the moment. Though there were many things to be thought of, I preferred to think about the past. When things weren't so complicated. When things were just so much easier than they are now. When things were different…

The war. The war. That's all anyone ever talked about when I was a child. How to stop the war. We need more food because of the war. Our soldiers are dying. I heard those things every day when I was a child, and that's how I grew up. I knew nothing but war. I knew nothing but pain, and loss. Often times, my mother would tell me stories about her childhood, in the times before this war started. I was always so happy to hear those stories, and often times I would pretend that the war wasn't really a war, and it would be over soon. I wanted the peacefulness that my mother described. I wanted no desired, peace more than anything else. Then again, I look back on how it all started, and it makes me think. Can peace ever truly exist? Can it truly come about? Or will the short-lived peacefulness just lead to more conflicts in the future? There will always be problems among people, and those problems will get bigger and bigger until someone blows up, and before you know it….. It's another war. Then, there's more pain and loss.

Supposedly this war all started because of a misunderstanding. Supposedly over a hundred years ago, the Rain country somehow snuck into the Sun country, and killed their lord. If that wasn't bad enough, because the Rain had problems with the Forest country, they framed the whole murder on the Forest. The Sun wouldn't believe the Forest lord when he tried to explain that his country, and people were innocent of this crime, and before anyone could blink, the Sun had declared war on the Forest. Of course, both sides got their allies involved, and then it became a world war. It only got worse when the small country of Snow accused the Forest's ally, The Land of Stars, of taking their Chosen One. That was when I was a child. Thankfully during that time, the Rain and the Forest had an alliance for almost twenty years.

Like I mentioned before, I don't have much memories of my mother, or father. They died when I was just four, but Tenzo often reminded me how much I looked like my mother. We have no photographs of them, so it's not like I can verify what he tells me. However, after my family's death, Tenzo and I were left to fend for ourselves. During this time of war, not many places were very welcome, and warm towards orphans. There were many like us. So we were left to our own tools, and of course that lead Tenzo to become protective when it came to me. He would never let me get into any dangerous situations, and he certainly never let anyone speak badly of me. He'd beat-up anyone who picked a fight with me. He also was the one who would steal in order to get us by. So, because of everything that we went through together, it caused us to become very close to one another, but it also caused us to be wary of others. We never knew just when we would lose another person who was close to us…..

Anyways, getting back to the story. When our parents died, we were left to use our own tools to survive. Sure we were from the Rain, and the Forest could have easily taken us in earlier, but there were few people in the world who would actually trust someone form my clan, even a child. So for three years, we were left on our own to survive. When I was seven, the Forest lord finally invited us to stay in the City of Lakes. It was the capital of the Forest, and one of the most influential places in the world.

We had just arrived in the City, and so we were just scooping things out. We were walking down the street in our new clothes. I wore a dark purple shirt with a collar that went half way up my neck, and a zipper down the middle of the shirt. I had on a short, white skirt, and black boots that went up to my ankle. My dark hair, which was about shoulder length at the time, was held back by a dark purple headband. My brother wore some kind of dark shirt with a high collar that covered his neck, and baggy white pants. He also wore black boots. It was a hot day, but I was getting over a sickness, and I was still weak. My brother held me close to his body to warm me up, and we both stared at the ground. As you can imagine, walking with your head down in the middle of a busy street was probably a stupid idea, but at the time it was almost like fate.

Like I said, we were walking down the street, just trying to mind our own business, when I bumped into a hard, but small object.

"Are you ok? I didn't see you there, so I guess there's no need for you to apologize."I frozen at the accent, not completely understanding what he said, but relaxed a bit.

"Huh?" I looked up to see my first friend. He had a smiling face, but it looked like an apologetic smile. He was dressed similarly to my brother, but he had a long, dark coat on over his clothes. However, the first thing that caught my attention was his striking sliver eyes, and dark, curly black hair. He had pale, pale skin, which made the whole look even more amazing. I was instantly attracted to him.

"Just watch what you're doing." Tenzo said a bit too aggressively, as he pulled me along.

"Don't you guys have school?" The child kept on after us. My brother nodded swiftly, barely taking a glance back at him." Well, you're going the wrong way." The child pointed out matter -of –factly, which made my brother hesitate for a moment. He looked back at him.

"O-k, so would you be so kind as to explain to us where we should be going." Tenzo said in a condescending tone. The young boy seemed oblivious to his rude remark, or maybe he just ignored it.

"Well, where I was going is where the younger kids go to school. Where you're going is where the older kids go to school. Four blocks down, and you take a right is where you'll find you're school. I'll take your sister to our school." Older brother looked at the kid warily.

"I don't feel safe leaving my baby sister alone with some stranger. I'd rather take her to her school myself."

"Then, you'll be late, and the teachers are much harder on the older kids about being on time than they are with us little ones. Trust me, she'll be safe with me." My brother looked at me, as if he was asking me how I felt about the situation. To be honest, I felt very cautious myself, but somehow, I also felt safe with this boy. I gave my brother's hand a reassuring, gentle squeeze, and smiled up at him. He took one last wary look at the boy, nodded, and then slowly began to walk towards his school.

_If anything happens, you know how to reach me. I'll be with you in a matter of seconds._ He left that thought hang in my head for a moment. I smiled, and laughed a bit to myself. He was just so overly protective.

_Don't worry about me Big Brother; I can take care of myself. I promise though that if anything does happen, I'll be sure to call on you for help. _He took one last look at me, and nodded, showing me that he had heard, and understood me.

_Just be careful. Remember, this is the country that killed our clan. Don't get too friendly with any of them. Ok? I just don't want to lose you too._ I nodded, but didn't reply to my brother. My attention was now on my new friend.

"Sooooo, what's your name?" I asked him with a cheerful smile. He looked at me, and smiled widely.

"My name's Shinobu Kenzukaya." He said cheerfully as he glanced at me a moment longer, and then looked forward for a moment." Who are you?" He asked as he looked back at me. I smiled widely.

"Haine Sato." His smile faltered for a moment. I bit my lip, awaiting his remark. I may have been young, but I knew exactly what people thought about my family. I was old enough to know that people feared, and hated, and mistrusted my clan because of who they are, and what they had done in the past. I was deeply afraid that this nice boy would shun me.

After a moment of silence his warm smile came back, and he cleared his throat.

"Cool name." I let out a breath of relief. I smiled weakly, and nodded. I was too afraid to say anything else. Shinobu noticed the sudden change in my behavior. He was extremely observant, even back then. "You know, people say a lot of bad things about your family, but I don't think you're all that bad. In fact, you don't seem bad at all. You seem like a good person, and that's enough for me." I smiled tentatively at him. I knew, or at least got the feeling, that he was saying a lot of this just to appease me, but it was still nice to hear that there was at least one person who didn't think that I was the same as the rest of my family. _Thank you….._ I thought silently to myself, still not wanting to speak. He seemed to sense that I didn't want to talk, and we were silent the rest of the long walk to school.

He showed me first period, and introduced me to the teacher. The teacher seemed to be very young, probably no more than twenty-six years old, with thick dark brown hair that was tied up into a ponytail. I'm sure his face would have looked more masculine down, but with it up, he looked almost like a woman. He had friendly golden eyes, and very tan skin.

"Please, everyone give a warm welcome to….." His eyes widened as he saw the name that was written on his paper, and I began to feel self-conscious again. Yet another person who thought badly of me because of my family. After a moment he seemed to regain his composer. "Everyone please give a warm welcome to our newest student Miss Haine Sato." He smiled apprehensively at me." Welcome to our school Haine, I'll be your instructor for the year. My name is Tenshi Akimishi." I nodded, and he then directed me to a seat next to a smiling child with dark brown hair, and soft golden eyes. He wore a long-sleeved shirt that was black, and dark colored pants that covered his black boots. I guessed that dark colors were the style at the time.

I smoothed out my skirt, and sat next to the strange boy. He turned, and smiled at me.

"So, you're a Sato, huh?" I nodded nervously. I could only imagine what was going through his mind, but he actually sounded interested. Most people were afraid of my clan, and when they found out that I was form there, they'd be afraid of me. I quickly went into the boy's mind to see if he was hiding some sort of fear, but oddly enough he seemed genuinely interested in me. I smiled just a bit wider.

"Ummmm, yeah I am. Shouldn't we be paying attention to the teacher?" I whispered nervously, glancing at the teacher. I knew the teacher was wary of me; I didn't want to give him an excuse to yell at me or anything else.

"Oh, I am, trust me." He said all too confidently, but I once again went into his mind. He too was wary of the teacher calling us out on talking. I smirked, the boy may have spoken big, but he was really just a coward, and so easy to read his mind. Most people would have sensed by now that I was going into their minds, and try to block me, or avert their thoughts, but not this boy. No, he was as easy to read as a book." Oh, how rude of me. I haven't introduced myself. I'm Haku Tenzokayia. I've heard so much about your clan, is it true they were all wiped out?" I shrugged. I didn't really want to go into details about my family's death. However, me shrugging seemed to irk the boy, and he scowled. "You gotta know! Weren't you there?!"

"No, "I lied so he'd leave me alone." When my family was killed my brother and I were off in another country visiting some family friends. They told us that we could no longer stay with them, and we weren't allowed to go home. I never knew my family was killed until I was five. Even then, I'm not sure those people were able to kill everyone in my family. We're not that easy to take down." Ok, so some of what I told him was true. I couldn't believe that they had gotten everyone in my family. They were too strong. Haku nodded fast, as if he agreed with me.

"I know, and my father is an ambassador to the Rain country, and I heard him say stuff that would kinda make me think that maybe they didn't kill every single Sato." I nodded fast. I had heard rumors about another Sato family living in the eastern mountains between the Sun and Snow countries, but nobody had ever confirmed anything.

"I've heard a lot of things like that, too." I finally admitted with a slight shrug.

"Are any of them true?" I shrugged again. I couldn't tell him anything, even if I did know something. He was an outsider. "Is it true what you're family powers are? Can you show me any of your family tricks?" I sneered at him under my breath. So, he truly didn't know that I was reading his mind? What an incredible idiot!

"I already have." I said simply, turning my attention back to the teacher. He no longer held my interest.

"Really? How?" He asked attempting to get in my view of the teacher. I looked around him. I wasn't going to give in to him so easily.

The rest of the class, Haku tried to get me to tell him how I had already shown him a power of my family, and each time I would ignore him. The day passed on without any notable events, until lunch. That's when I met my third new friend.

He ate lunch in a corner, away from everyone else. He scowled at the cracks in the wall, and I couldn't help but be instantly attracted to him. He had shaggy brown hair, and deep, black eyes. He wore a short sleeved shirt with a collar that covered his neck, and dark pants that neatly tucked into dark colored boots. He had two, golden hoops that were visible from my view. I smiled, and sat next to him. As I did so, he glared at me. I smiled widely, not at all discouraged by his reaction to me.

"Who are you?" I asked cheerfully.

"Go. Away." He said in a grumpy manner as he closed his eyes, and turned away from me. I moved my mouth from side to side, and chewed on my inner lip as I thought of a smart alec way to reply to him.

"Go away? That's a funny name." I went into his mind to see what he was really thinking, but I couldn't. His mind was like a brick wall. Impossible to get around.

"Stop trying to read my mind… It's not working." I sighed, frustrated at the fact that he was right. For once, I had met someone whose mind was impossible for me to read, and to be honest…. It excited me. I wanted to know more about this kid.

"Tell me your name. You got me interested in you." He glared at me, and then sighed as if he had lost a battle.

"If I tell you my name, will you go away?" I smirked slightly at his tone. No way in hell was I just going to go away. I was already too interested in him.

"Not even if you tortured me." I said with confidence. He looked at me with an expression I didn't recognize, then sighed.

"It's Tenchi Hizykena." He said in defeat. I smirked, and nodded.

"I'm Haine Sato." I said with perhaps too much confidence than I should have. He turned, and looked at me with wide eyes.

"Did you say Sato?"

"Yupp, sure did." His onyx eyes narrowed, and his breathing seemed to get shallow. I didn't need to go into his mind to know that he was pissed.

"Stay away from me." He said coldly as he got up, and left me alone. I looked down at my uneaten lunch. Everyone hated my clan…..

That day seemed to pass by slowly, but thanks to Haku and Shinobu, I met many new kids, and many of them ended up being life-long friends.

"Haine, there's just one rule you gotta remember, ok?" Bright green eyes and blonde hair stared at me. Her name was Emi Fujiyama. She was normally very energetic, and cheerful, but now she was serious. I suddenly felt uneasy.

"Wh-what is it?" I asked slightly nervous.

"Don't upset the headmaster. Everyone knows just how tough he is, and he won't go easy on us just because we're kids." Others in the group nodded.

"Yeah, I heard he's an ex-Admiral who was captured, and tortured for like one-hundred days. He's been through stuff man." I nodded at the red-haired boy. I didn't know much about him, except that his name was Izaya, and he hung around Emi a lot. I never really got to know him. Beside Izaya was a quiet boy with beautiful sand-colored hair, and deep red eyes. He was a strange kid, and didn't really seem to have many friends, but he seemed drawn to me.

Just so you know, I never knew that I was a Chosen One until I was thirteen, it was tradition that the chosen ones not be told about what they are until they are that age. Some people broke that, and so of course many of the Chosen Ones knew what they were by the time they were six. In fact, this boy seemed more withdrawn, and distrustful of people, but he was still drawn to me, and I couldn't help but be drawn to him. There was something about him that was… Enduring, you could say.

"No, he wasn't tortured for that long, but regardless, the man had it coming. He should have seen it coming….. And everyone knew that that man was going to get his comings, and it happened. He's failed at everything he's tried to do; he's a miserable, bitter defeated old dog who has nothing left in his life other than us kids. He resents that, and thus is hard on us. He hates our very being." The boy said almost in anger as he got up, and left. We all stared at him in shock, but then I felt something more for him. No it wasn't attraction, he scared me shitless, it was pity. I felt something that was hidden beneath his words, so I got up, and followed him.

He went where nobody would bother him, and he glared at me as I sat next to him.

"Ummm, hi." I said, feeling awkward, and stupid that I had followed him.

"Hi." He said curtly, turning away from me. I bite the inside of my lip, and looked around for something, anything, to break the ice.

"What's your name?" I asked, figuring it was easiest just to go with the basics. He looked at me with an eyebrow raised. I tried to go into his mind, and found it surprisingly easy to go into his mind.

_What's her game? I see her staring at me every day, but she never talks to me. Is she just like everyone else? Is she afraid of me too?___

_**Don't be stupid, Hisoka. She followed you here didn't she?**_

_Yes, she did. I'm not imaging her. _

_**Well, then, she obviously isn't afraid of you. She came here alone….. This is too perfect, you gotta take her now!**_

_I can't I barely know her! And she hasn't done anything to me yet.___

_**But everyone eventually will hurt you, just like your father did. Remember what he did to you?**_

I felt the two conflicting voices inside his head battle each other, and it frightened me, so I left his mind. Hisoka stared at me with blank eyes. I gulped, and looked away. I felt like his eyes were sucking me in to him. Suddenly, he shook his head, and he smiled.

"It's Hisoka Yukimashi. What's yours?" I smiled. I felt comfortable telling him who I was because of what I heard in his mind.

"It's Haine Sato." He nodded slowly.

"I heard a lot about your family." He said simply, not taking it any further. I tried to go into his mind, but it was like trying to see through a stone wall. It was impossible. So, I left his mind, and began to relax my guard around him.

We sat there, in the corner of the gym, and just talked about anything and everything. I truly began to feel comfortable around him. After that day, we got really close; we were practically glued to one another's side. We never had "romantic" feelings for each other, but we defiantly had a strong connection that is hard to describe.

Later during the same day, I met Haruo for the first time. He was a very poor child, though his family had money. He looked like a kid a person could expect to see on commercials for kids in need. He was dirty, and smelly. His clothes were rags, but in decent enough shape. I felt extremely sorrow for him, but he seemed to have niceness about him. I seemed oddly drawn to him as he sat by a corner with a bucket, as if he were waiting for people to drop money into it. I walked over to it, and noticed that people had dropped money into it. I dug around in my pockets, until I pulled out some loose change, and dropped it in. He shook his head, as if the clanking of metal had awoken from some kind of dream, and looked into the jar.

"Thanks, it's much appreciated."He said in an oddly high tone. I smiled, and nodded.

"It was nothing."I assured him, and then walked away. I tried to engrave his image into my head, and I was going to bring it up the next day when I had the chance...

"Oh! That's Haruo!"Emi said in her usual cheerful manner. It was lunchtime at school, and I had just described to everyone what I had seen.

"Yeah, he's some kind of loner. I heard some pretty bad things about his family though. I heard his real family left him when he was a baby, and now he lives in an orphanage."Another one of my friends, Mamarou, had said as he was fixing a clay figure.

"God I would like so hate to live in like an orphanage. I'm like totally glad my parents didn't die in like this war, Ya know."Another girl, I believe her name was Katsumi, said in her usually preppy manner, as she looked into a hand held mirror, and was busy fixing her already perfect hair. She was one of the older kids, but she seemed to have taken a liking to me. Just like everyone else.

"Yeah, I so know where you're coming from!"Another one of the older kids, Gin-something, had agreed with a fast nod of his head. Katsumi flipped her red hair, and then looked at us with her beautiful, piercing grey eyes. The older boy, who was tall and gangly boy with sand blonde hair and sky blue eyes. I felt uneasy by their stares, but I mostly ignored it. I glanced at Haku. He was silent, for the first time in weeks, and had his fists balled up on his lap as if he were angered.

_Haku, what's up?_ I asked, whispering my thought across his mind. At that time, I only mentally spoke to Shinobu, Haku, and my brother. Though my brother was obviously very use to it, so was Haku and Shinobu. It was like they had grown up with it. Or maybe they just accepted it as part of myself, and found it to be quiet natural either way. It was like this gift to them, was a natural part of me, and should be expected. Like my hair color, or eye color. Haku merely looked at me, and then his eyes flitted across the wide circle of friends.

_I don't like them talking about Haruo like this. Nobody knows him well at all! And they have the gull to act like they do know him!_

_What do you mean, Haku?_

_He's my friend. My best friend and I don't like people talking about him like this at all!_I flinched slightly, feeling more than hearing the absolute hostile in his words. He looked at me with an apologetic look._ I'm sorry Haine. I didn't mean to make you afraid._

_Nah, it's ok._ He seemed to want to drop the conversation, so I dropped it. I went back to talking to the rest of my friends, who had also dropped the subject, and moved onto something else. This conversation, Haku joined in on.

After school was over, Haku seemed more talkative, and I had almost completely forgotten about Haruo.

"I could show you him, and you two could talk."Haku offered. I looked at him, confused by what he meant. It took a moment to realize he was talking about Haruo.

"You know, you-"

"It's no trouble really!"I bite my lip, and looked towards the direction my brother had always picked me up at. My birthday was to be in a few days, and he was taking me out to celebrate like he had all that week. Something he called a birthweek. I always use to roll my eyes at the little ritual of his."C'mon!"He half-begged, grabbing onto my arm."Since he saw you, he's been asking about ya! He's says you're pretty, and nice, and he wants to get to know ya!"I blushed, but nodded.

"Yeah, ok, sure. If it will get ya to shut up."I joked. He smiled widely, and then pulled me along to meet his friend.

This time, when I saw Haruo, he was dressed differently. He was dressed richer. He wore dark, but faded, jeans, with a nice black shirt that almost seemed to shimmer in the bright sun. His skin was cleaned; his pale skin had almost a glow to it.

"Hey, we weren't properly introduced when we last met. My name is Haruo, never mind my last name. I don't really have one. You're Haine Sato right? A lot of people have been talking about you."He glanced slyly at Haku with a smirk."Haku, though, has spoken the most about you." I smiled, giggled, and then glanced at Haku while he blushed.

"Well, "I smiled back at Haruo, suddenly feeling inferior. "It's good meeting you. Maybe we can play together sometime."He nodded a bit stiffly; it was almost as if he thought that playing with me was beneath him.

It was probably an understatement to say that at first, Haruo annoyed me greatly. I could barely stand to be around him, but I sorda tolerated it because he was Haku's friend. After a while, I got use to him. I began to think of him as a very close friend. Someone I could trust no matter what happened...

Anyways, on with the story.

So, a couple years after I had moved to the City of Lakes, Shinobu and I had begun to date. It was a very special, and happy time in my life, however, Shinobu and Haku were very close friends. Haku would get angry whenever he saw me and Shinobu together, and I believe that's part of the reason why he hated me so much. I took away his best friend, or at least that must have been the way he saw it. I guess it's also around that time he began to get angry a lot. It always seemed he was angry about something, and almost always his anger was directed at me. I never really understood why he was so angry about me and Shinobu being together. It's not like it was really hurting anyone. Anyway, it was also around that time, that me and Tenzo, for the first time ever, seemed to be drifting apart. He was always doing his own thing, and I was always with Shinobu or one of my friends. We hardly spoke to each other except when it was necessary. It was also doing this time that I met a nice, older couple that would help me out so many times in the years after our first meeting…..

I was walking down the busy and rather crowded street in Oma, a town about three miles south of The City of Lakes, running errands for a family that had agreed to give me work since my brother and I were falling on hard times because of the war when I ran into them. Really, I literally ran into one of them.

"Ohmigod! Are you ok little girl?" I rubbed my head, and looked up to the rich accent that had spoken to me. I squinted, and covered my eyes to see better.

The woman was wearing a hat, but I could still see her beautiful red hair hiding underneath the purple hat. She had wide blue eyes, and seemed to wear make-up. She smiled, and helped me up. She dusted me off, making little disapproving grunts as she did so. It was then that I noticed a guy was standing next to her. I suppose he was handsome, but he looked rather ordinary. He had long black hair that was tied up into a ponytail, and narrow brown eyes. He had bored expression on his face as he shook his head at his wife's cleaning up of me.

"Asami, I think the girl is just fine. " The guy looked at me, and smiled apologetically."Sorry, my wife tends to go overboard when she sees dirty children." I scowled at the guy. I did not think I was that dirty. The woman he called Asami stood up, and put her hands on her hips.

"Satoshi, look at the girl!" She threw her arms put, and pointed to me in one, swift movement. "The poor girl's obviously starving!" I sighed in annoyance. I thought I was perfectly fine.

"Asami, I'm sure the girl is fine, and can probably take good care of herself. I'm sure she's got a family back home that-"

"That obviously doesn't know how to take care of a child." She looked back at me with a smile, and knelt down in front of me. "What's your name little one?"

"My name is…" I hesitated, not really wanting to tell this woman my name. If she knew my real name, would she still be so nice to me? Would she turn me away? Would be too afraid to talk to me? I shook my head, trying to clear the doubts, and smiled tentatively." My name is Haine Sato." I answered simply, and looked her in the eyes. I was gauging her reaction. She seemed to be quiet for a moment, and then smiled.

"You have such a pretty name! Doesn't Haine mean something along the lines of fire song, or ash something?" I nodded, my smile growing more relaxed, and wider. The one she called Satoshi looked at me cautiously. Asami may have trusted me, but it was clear that Satoshi did not trust me. I scowled, and looked away from the seemingly caring woman. It was only a matter of time before she too no longer trusted me. Everyone was the same when it came to my family…..

"Sorry if I offended you, Sato." I glared at Satoshi as he spoke to me in a condescending tone. Asami also glared at him.

"Satoshi let her alone! She's just a child!" She looked, and me and smiled. "Besides, she's soooo cute!"

"Yeah, a cute child that will one day grow up to be a traitor, and a killer. She can't be trusted." He said as he moved protectively in front of Asami. I glared even more. There was no way in hell I'd ever hurt this woman. In fact, I wouldn't hurt anyone who didn't harm me. Asami sighed, and moved out of her husband's protective arms.

"She's not going to be like they were, and I'll make sure of that." She said as she picked me up, and smiled at me. "Now, you wanna go over to my house, and we can talk some more?" I looked over questioningly at Satoshi, who seemed to have a defeated look on his face, and smiled.

"Sure, why not…." Then I remembered my chores I had to do for that family. I sighed, and shook my head." Actually, I just remembered that I can't. I have some errands I have to do for the Saki clan. My brother and I have fallen on some hard times, so they agreed to let me work for them." Asami got a sad look on her face when she heard this, and then sighed.

"Well, lucky for you I 'm a very influential person. I can easily pull some strings, and get you out of work for the day." I looked at her, and shook my head.

"Sorry, but we need the money, and besides, I'm not so sure it would really work out so well when I do go work for them again tomorrow. They're a very strict kind of people, and I don't think they'd be so happy about me playing hooky for a day just because I met some nice people." Asami sighed, and looked at her husband for help.

"Well," he said with a sigh," we could easily make it so that they can't do anything to you. I happen to know the Saki's very well. If I tell them you're doing some minor work for us for a bit, they won't care." I sighed, and then shook my head.

"Well, it's not just them. My brother is also expecting me to be back at a certain time, and he's very…. Strict when it comes to being on time." Asami sighed again. Was she getting annoyed with me finally?

"Well… it won't take that long." She said in a hopeful tone. I s till shook my head.

"No, I better get back to my brother, and work. Besides, he'll want to know where the money from today's work is at." Asami sighed again, and then took out a piece of paper, and began writing on it. I tilted my head in curiosity. After a moment, she handed the piece of paper to me.

"Well, this is our telephone number, and address. If you need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to contact us." I stared at the scribbling on the paper. In school, even though they were supposedly training us to be soldiers and warriors, they never taught us to read unless we came from a rich family that could afford to the price it was to teach us all that stuff. We may have been invited to the Land of Forest by the Forest Lord, but we were never given any special treatment by him.

"What's wrong?" Satoshi asked, sounding genuinely concerned for me. I looked up at him, and blushed with embarrassment.

"I…. I was never taught to read. I don't know what this says." Asami once again looked at me with pity.

"Well, next time you're here in Oma, ask for the Kishie's." I nodded, and quickly went about my business.

When I finally made it home that day, it was well after suppertime, I noticed that my brother had not made dinner. That was rather weird of him. He always cooked our meals. How did I tell that he had not cooked? I didn't smell any garlic, or onions, or even the smell of fresh veggies or fruit. I automatically thought the worst, and I freaked myself out, but of course there was nothing to worry about.

I walked into the living room, and saw my brother slumped down on the couch, his eyes scanning a letter like it was something that he had read a million times before, but couldn't believe the contents of it. I walked over to my brother, and took the letter from him. There was no resistance. I sighed, and set the letter aside without even looking at it.

"Big Brother, what's wrong?" His eyes looked at me, then at the letter, and away from me. I sighed heavily, not use to this Tenzo. "Big Brother answer me!" I yelled out, frustrated by him ignoring me.

"They called you." He said simply, his voice hallow like a dead man speaking. I sighed, and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Ok, what the hell are you talking ab-"

"The Soldiers for Hire. They want you to join them…" I tilted my head. At the time, I was like many people who had never heard of them, but because of my elder brother's reaction….. I became terrified of them.

"Wh-what? Is there a way to stop them?" he shook his head, and looked at me.

"You have no choice but to join them." He said simply. I looked down at myself. I didn't want to leave my brother. Not again….


	4. the paln

**Chapter Three: The Plan**

**"And where there's pure love, there is no room for anger of any kind." - Sri Harold Klemp**

** A/n: Man, I feel so achoplished today XDD three chapters on one fic, and three on this one, and another r new fic! Who!**

I walked back to my house after a long day of working. I was tired, and beat. I was ready to sleep, but I knew that that was not possible for me to do. There was so much I had to do. I had to clean up the house, knowing my little sister had probably left it in a mess. Then I had to cook, and prepare the table….. There was just so much to do. I sighed, and opened the door. I paused for a moment. I had locked the door when I left…. Why was it open? I instantly got a bad feeling, and quickly went into the house, closing the door behind me. I looked around for anything out of the ordinary, but the only thing I could find was a folded up piece of paper on the table in the hallway. I picked it up, and looked at it. What the hell was it? And who was it from? I sighed, automatically thinking Haine had written it for me. I opened it, and my jaw fell open as I recognized the handwriting.

**To….Well everyone I suppose. I don't know why I'm trying to make this so formal seeing how everyone will probably hate me by the end of this letter. Apologies first and foremost I'm truly sorry I had to do this, but I was made an offer I simply could not refuse. I'm not going to rehash everything because well I simply don't have the time. I have to make this quick, but don't ever come look for me. Know that I am happy with what I'm doing, and I don't want to be saved. I want to be left alone, and I certainly don't want to hurt any of you. By hurt, I do mean kill. You guys are the only people who have not treated me like dirt, and I thank you guys for that, especially you Haine. And it is you that I will regret most about hurting. I know how much you've tried to make me feel like one of the gang, and for a bit I actually believed that I could be one of you guys, and be care-free, but there is always something that reminds me that I simply don't belong on your guys side. I'm not a good person, and I don't know why I let myself become close to you guys. I always hurt the ones I love, and thus what I'm doing is just expected of a twisted, sick person like me. You guys should have seen this coming, but I'm sorry I had to this. Just promise me, that you'll forget I ever existed in your lives. That you guys even met me. I no longer belong as one of you guys. So forgive me for pretending to be something I'm not. What did I pretend to be? I pretend to be your friend when in truth I am not. What am I doing? I am joining The Hunters. Like I mentioned before, I was made an offer that I simply couldn't refuse. I'm so sorry for hurting you guys. Especially you Haine. I'll always treasure the friendship that we had, and I'll never forget what you did for me, but I must go. Don't bother looking for me. The things I seek now only lie in the darkness. **

Haruo

I glared at the tiny piece of parchment paper. How could Haruo do that not only to us, but to my sister? Judging from the tone of the paper, he knew exactly how my sister felt about him, yet he still went on and did this? I scrunched up the piece of paper, ready to destroy it, but then thought better of it. Haine would want it. She would want to know what happened to her dear friend, and why he left. Though it would hurt her, I simply couldn't destroy the only thing that would mean anything to her…..

With another heavy sigh, I put the note down, and went about my daily chores….

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I had said my good- byes to Tenchi after telling him the big news. He was busy, and was about to go to the younger school to teach the kids there. So, I was left there alone. But then, I decided to go see Asami.

It's true, at first, every time I came to Oma, I would avoid asking people for the location for the Kishie's home location. I honestly didn't want to see them after seeing Satoshi's reaction, and words upon hearing who I was. After awhile, however, that fear died down, and I began to ask people where I could find them. Turns out, they were really nice people with four kids of their own. I was actually friends, very close friends, with one of them. I was close friends with their daughter, Sakura.

Sakura was a blonde haired, blue-eyed girl who was the same age as me. She was very energetic, bright, and sweet, though she tended to be a bit of a coward when it came to conflicts of any sort. When they involved her, and trust me she always found herself in some sort of trouble it didn't even matter what it was, she often relied on her elder brother, Yuji, to solve them for her. So because of that, she is also carefree, and doesn't pay much attention to anything that doesn't interest her. She loves the arts, and cooking, and she's very good at both. However, because she is rather pretty, she uses her charms, and beauty to charm any guy she meets. I guess you could say that she is a "loveable loser" type of person.

Her brother, Yuji, was almost the completely opposite of her. He also had blonde hair, and blue eyes, but his eyes and hair were lighter than hers was. He was hard-working, efficient, practical, and serious type of person. Unlike his sister, who did not join the military because her family was rich enough to send her to an arts school, he was in the military. He was seriously devoted to that lifestyle like it was some sort of religion. I suppose it was a good thing though. He was a general in the official military, and would make a very good leader. However, he often would turn down something because of Sakura, so he probably wouldn't advance any further in the military... Despite this, I mean I would understand if he totally hated her because she was holding him back, he had a close relationship with her. I guess you could say, another problem of his is that he was relativity inexperience with relationships. So, because of this, he was a very by-the-book when it came to relationship with other people. I never got why he was like that either. Though Sakura would always say it was very simple if one were to just stop, and think about his personality, but I still never got why he was so to the T about things.

I always really liked Yuji, but he also kinda annoyed me. He was just the type of person that when I saw his face on some days, it fired me up. It didn't help that the guy was always so serious about everything. In fact, I don't recall him smiling ever. I absolutely hated him at times, and then other times I would sorda like him. I suppose it was a love- hate relationship. But there was one person in that family I **COULD NOT STAND. **

His name was Seiji. Seiji had dark, dark, dark brown hair, and very light green eyes. He was like sorda a mix between Yuji and Sakura. He was just worse. He was also in the military, and he took a lot of pride in that. I guess he was just a prideful person in general. He was also an ass, but that's because, well he says, that he spent more time in training camp than his siblings, and also wasn't around them as much when he was younger. In fact, if I remember the story correctly, he lived most of his childhood with his grandparents who lived in the west in a small, relatively new country. He always spoke his mind on things, and was very blunt about them. He also liked to drink, and flirt with anything that had two, working legs, and a heartbeat. Though sometimes I wondered if that was even a requirement. Despite his many faults and I won't name them all, he had no problem making friends or even getting girlfriends. Though, that doesn't really surprise me considering that the whole family is rather good looking. Anyways, when me and he got into a room together, we always managed to fight about something. Even if it was totally foolish, and idiotic, we still fought over them. So, for anyone who knew us well, knew not to leave us in a room alone together. Someone will get hurt, and things will be destroyed.

Snapping out of my strange reverie of the family, I finally reached Asami's house, and just smiled as I looked at their place through the closed gates. It never stopped amazing me just how beautiful their house really was. I looked at the little device that was on the wall of the gate, and typed in a code.

"Good afternoon, Miss Sato, may we get you anything?" A bright, too cheerful, female voice asked through the intercom. I rolled my eyes at the voice. Something about how these people spoke around friends to rich people, or the rich people in general, always rubbed me the wrong way.

"No, thanks, but could you open the gates Amatersu? I need to see Asami." I answered in a very cordial voice that was very unlike me. Then again, I was always a bit too nice when I came here. I released the button I had pushed to talk to her so that she could reply back.

"I'm sorry Miss Sato, but Miss Asami is out today. Perhaps I could leave a message?" I sighed heavily. Asami must've went on a boat ride on the lake her family practically owned. I pushed the button again.

"No thanks…. Is Sakura here?" I asked in the same overly polite voice. I stepped back waiting for her reply.

"Well, she is but she is painting." I sighed. She always painted on days like this. Though I couldn't blame her. It was a very nice day.

"Is anyone with her?"

"Just her brother, Kieashai." I smiled at hearing his name. Kieashai was another one of her brothers, and he was also handsome, and very nice.

"Well, open the gates. I don't mind waiting for Asami to return."

"Yes ma'am, hold on just a second." I stepped back, and watched as the gates opened.

Like I said, Asami had a beautiful home. Her yard was filled with flowers, and trees, and in the center was a small pond that had ducks, and fish in it. The pond was under the constant shade of a beautiful tree. I always felt so peaceful when I went to her house. I walked down the gravel drive -in type of thing, and walked up the doors. I was immediately greeted by servants, who took my shoes, and coat. Another pair of servants offered me several things, all of which I denied wanting. After a few minutes, they pretty much left me alone as I walked down the hallway to Sakura's room. I knocked, and then smiled when her brother answered.

"Haine, it's so nice to see you." I smiled as I took in his appearance. His shaggy brown hair was held a little bit by a ribbon, half of his bangs covered his right eye, which had a scar on it from an accident at training camp. His eyes were the color of the ocean. That day, he wore a red robe with black, almost ancient- styled shoes.

"It's nice to see you too Kieashai." I smiled, and bowed meekly, then entered the room. Sakura was a very good artist, and she always did such amazing paintings. This one was no exception. It was family portrait of her family, and it looked so realistic. "Hey, where's Yuji?" I asked, interrupting her painting.

"Ummm, the lady told me you were here to see me." She said in a confused tone with a slight smile that always seemed to be on her face.

"Well, I am, but I need to make some plans, and he's the best out of all you when it comes to making plans."

"Well, what is it you need to do?" She asked cheerfully. I sighed. Maybe I should have waited until later. I shook my head.

"Well, I'm planning a rescue attempt, but there's nobody else I can trust to really come up with a good enough plan. I need his military smarts."

"Well, what about me? I'm just as good as he is." I cringed slightly at hearing Kieashai's jealous tone. I forgot that he had some one-sided rivalry with his brother.

"I know you are Kieashai, but I want him to make these plans." I tried to diplomatically turn him down. I didn't believe he was as good as Yuji. Sakura looked between us, and shrugged. Also, another thing to know about Sakura, she was almost completely unable to sense the atmosphere of anything going on around her. She was such a child in that respect. So, I supposed she probably couldn't sense the intensity that was going on between me and Kieashai because of his one-sided jealously towards his elder brother.

"Well, Big Brother went with father to a war meeting. They'll be gone all day."_ Blast it all to fucking hell._ I thought to myself, and then sighed heavily.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to wing this the best I can." I mumbled, and then left.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I sat next to Tenchi awkwardly as Tenzo spoke to us about Haruo. I should have known that he would leave us, but I was so blinded by hope that he would stay that I totally ignored my feelings. I scrunched my fists as Tenzo showed us the letter. Sure, he was talking to all of us, but this letter seemed more or less for Haine. Again, that girl seemed to be taking away my friend….

"Haku, there has to be something you can say. I mean, we gotta stop Haine. I know how she is, and once she finds out about Haruo, there'll be no stopping her." Tenchi looked at me with pleading black eyes. I shrugged. I was not going to get in the middle of this, nor did I care what the hell Haine did.

"I don't see why you guys treat Haine like she's some delicate, little flower that needs to be protected, and guarded at all costs. Well, she's not. She's not a child anymore. She's not a child that doesn't understand the circumstances, and what the consequences are. Sure, she'll go on this suicide mission to rescue some people that are probably already dead, but we gotta let her do it. Besides, do you really believe that she would listen to any of us? Once that woman has made up her mind to do something, you can't get her to change it. So it's just best to let her learn this hard lesson the only way possible, which is by herself." I tried to be the level headed one, which meant I had to suppress my anger at her.

"Well… She's still my little sister, and I don't want her to get into trouble or hurt herself. I actually care about her." I grinded my teeth together, and sighed heavily. They did understand her at all like they think they did.

"You don't understand. Haine won't listen to anybody once she makes up her mind to do something. It's impossible to do. Don't any of you get that?!" I yelled loudly, slamming my fists on the table angrily, and then I walked away. No way was I gonna stay in a stuffy room with idiots who were trying to do the impossible.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

We sat there shocked at Haku's reaction. Sure, he may not have exactly liked Haine, but he was practically siding with her, and not even attempting to understand where we were coming from. Did he hate her so much that he wanted her to die?

"I don't understand why he needs to make this so damned difficult. He could have simply just said no in a nice, and calmly manner, but no he didn't. Why is he all of a sudden siding with my little sister?" His agonized voice announced in a soft tone. I shrugged, and looked away. I closed my eyes, but not sure what effect it would have, it's not like this issue would simply go away if I ignored it.

"I don't understand either Tenzo, but there's nothing that we can really do about it either. He's right Haine is not going to listen to what anybody tells her unless it's something she wants to hear. It's just the way she is, and there's not a damn thing anyone can do about it." I said in a gentle, but level-headed tone. I gave Tenzo a hard look, so that he would understand where I was coming from. I, in no way, agreed with what Haine wanted to do, but there was no way we could possibly hope to stop her. She'd find a way to rescue Hisoka, and bring Haruo back if it was the last things she ever did. Trying to make her do otherwise was like trying to move a mountain. Pointless, and stupid, so why try to change what cannot be changed?

"Well, we can't sit around and do nothing." He looked at me, and I could see the agonized look in his emerald eyes. If I could illasraight it, I would say it would be the look of a person being burned alive. I nodded slowly, trying to show my empathy for his plight..

"Look, I completely understand how you feel, but we can't stop Haine from doing this. We just gotta let her do it. It's the only way she can gain peace. You know, closure." Tenzo sighed heavily, and looked away. He knew I was right.

"Still… After all I went through to make sure Haine stayed safe….. After all the hardships I went through to make sure she never did without things she needed. Sure, she may not have had everything she wanted, but she had everything she needed. I went without just so she could have the things she needed, so she could be safe, happy, and healthy….. I've already lost so much, and now it's down to me and my sister to revive our clan….. I don't want to lose her…..You know, you work your ass off for them...You give them everything they could want, and even go with out for them...You work so hard, and try to teach them the right things to do...You work so hard, and in the end...They just go away.." I looked at him, slightly shocked at his tone. I had never heard him speak with such a soft, sad tone. His blue eyes even had a look of sadness in them.

"Tenzo….."I shook my head as I got up, and I too left the house. I need time to think, time to breathe….. I needed to find Haine is what I needed…

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I stared up at the rather large cave with slight anticipation. There was some sort of seal on the door, and when they undid it, the stone that was in front of the door way automatically moved out of the way.

I smiled in wonder at the sight. It was magic, and I was excited to learn how it worked. They looked at me for a second then walked in. I smiled a bit wider, and walked in faster them, but then cringed when I felt my bare feet grow cold and wet from the water that was at the entrance.

"You'll get use to that coldness. Trust me." Daiki smiled at me, and continued to weave his way through the corridors. "Each member is given a teammate that can nicely flatter your own abilities. Where you are weak in one area, your partner will be strong in that area, and where you are strong in one area, your partner will be weak. Of course, you and your partner may have equal abilities, but that all depends on who we decided to be your partner. You will sleep with another person of our choosing, for obvious reasons. And the rest will be shown to you when the time is right." I nodded at his explanation. He spoke like someone giving a tour to some tourists. I slowly glanced around the ominous lair as he spoke. There seemed to be many corridors that I assumed lead to different parts of the hideout. Rocks jutted out form the top where wooden beams were placed just beanthe them. The walls were smoothed out, and gleamed a dull grey.I wanted to explore the gloomy hideout, but I knew I couldn't as long as there was someone who would be constantly looking over my shoulders. I shuddered thinking that this is the life I had now chosen. I would always be watched by someone, weather I liked it or not. Though the thought made me uncomfortable, I quickly shoved it away. I had chosen to betray my old life, and this was now my life. I had to except it.

We stopped at a cave-looking room with two beds, and two separate dressers. One bed and dresser was already taken up.

"This is my room; you'll be sleeping in the same room as me until we find you a suitable partner." Hiashi said fast, almost angrily. I nodded, and stepped inside. I looked back at Hiashi, who stood in the doorway, leaning up against the doorway. I began to notice features on him that I hadn't noticed before.

He had a scar going across his face reaching from the left side of his, just barely above the eyebrow, going across the eye, and it kept going until it had curved on his nose, then it continued down, barely missing his lip, and finally stopping below his chin. He also had another scar on his check, two of them, that made an x shape, and then another scar on his right eye, which went straight down, and stopped just below his nose. He had a burn on his right arm, and left leg, and several markings, scars, on his knuckles, and all over his hands. He had another scar on his throat, where it looked like someone had tried to slit his throat. I shuddered slightly by all his scars. He wasn't someone you'd want to mess with, that was for sure….

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I walked into my house quietly, if I was going to leave, I needed to do it quickly, and quietly. I sent out my energy, and felt around the room. I smiled as I felt nobody else was in the room with me. I looked around, and then quickly made my way to my room.

As soon as I made it there, I quickly began to go through my clothes, and packing. I knew from my time with the Soldiers for Hire, exactly where The Hunter's were located. It wouldn't take that long to reach them, but it was all the way in the Snow Country, and on foot that would take at least three months to get to. I looked down at my stomach, which at that point had begun to show the classic baby bump. If it really took that long, I'd be almost ready to have my child. I sighed again, and looked at my bag. Could I really make the journey alone on foot? I needed a short cut to get there faster. I began to think about the short cuts, and other alternative routes I could take instead of the regular route that most people took.

A sharp knock at my bedroom door shook me from my deep thought. I jumped slightly, my heartbeat jutted up to a million beats per minute. For some reason, my body began to tense up like it always did when I was preparing for a fight.

"Who's there?" I asked, trying to get my beating heart to slow down. It was stupid to be acting the way I was acting.

"It's me, Yuji. Sakura told me you had wanted to see me because you needed my assistance on something. Ummmm, am I free to come in?" I nodded. It was defiantly stupid to overreact the way I did.

"Yeah, the door's open just come right on in."I said in a much calmer tone. My heartbeat had finally come down, so my voice wasn't as shaky as it was before. About thirty seconds later, I guessed he had hesitated, the door opened, and there Yuji stood.

"What is it you needed help with?" He asked simply, always one to get straight to the point. I looked down at my bag, and then closed it up, and pulled it over my shoulders. I sat on my bed, and beckoned him to come in, and sit beside me. He did, and then I turned and looked at him.

"Well, I'm sure you know what's going on with me." I stated simply. He nodded slowly.

"You are with child. Everyone in the village knows that, and actually I have come to talk to you just about that exact issue." I groaned, but he patted my knee reassuringly. "Now, now don't be afraid. The elder's know where you stand, and therefore we have come to a conclusion. Since the father is also a Chosen One, and you are a Chosen one, and the last baby born whose parent were both Chosen ones turned out to be dangerous. The mother was killed in the process of childbirth, and we fear that the same fate may befall you." I looked at him warily as he paused. He spoke like a parent trying to explain something very serious to a young child. It both irrated me, and made me a bit wary. What was going on?

"Yeah, I've been told that, but what are the Elder's thinking exactly?"I questioned, raising an eyebrow. Yuji paused before answering me. He must have sensed my distrust.

"They….. They want to keep you in the village, which brings me to my next issue that I must talk to you about." He spoke slowly, carefully. He must have gotten that I wouldn't have liked what they had planned. And he was right. I sighed, almost feeling where this was going, and crossed my arms angrily. "Now, my mother and father will both be here later on to talk about this matter to you and your elder brother, but I wanted to approach you about it first. Well, the Elders have heard what happened to Hisoka, and they are very sympathetic to his situation, but you have to understand how they feel about what you are going through at this moment. They don't want to put you into direct harm of any kind. So please, think about this carefully." The last part he added with a bit of his own worry. I looked at him, and almost softened a bit. Somehow, I felt my usual feelings towards him change...I shook my head slightly, and quickly got angry again. They wanted to keep me away from something I personally needed to do, I shouldn't be feeling the way I was!

"Just get to the freaking point already, Yuji, and quit beating around the bush." I said in annoyance, glaring at him slightly. He nodded slowly, and took a deep, shaky breath.

"Look, you need protection. Whether you like it or not, the whole village is ready to fight to keep you within our boundaries. We need you, and we can't afford to lose you now. So, we have come up with a plan to keep you safe, where we could watch you closely, and you would feel most comfortable. Do you know what that is?" I shook my head. I was starting to get more annoyed at his parental-sounding voice."They decided that you can come, and live with my family. I will be your protector until things settle down."I could tell by his tone that he was a bit nervous at this detail. I could only imagine what was going through his mind. Then again, maybe I didn't want to know what was going through the closet-pervert's mind. Though, once the words finally registered through my head, my heart caught in my chest. I couldn't speak, and I felt my cheeks heat up. I knew then that I was blushing."Of course, that is only if you accept this."He added as an afterthought. I knew that was coming from him personally, and I also knew that if wasn't what I wanted to do, he'd find some other way to make this work. I could also tell that he was hoping I would turn it down. I looked up at Yuji, his eyes confirming my suspicion that he hoped I would turn the offer down, and nodded slowly. However, despite how uncomfortable the situation would be for the both of us, I knew that somehow it was what was best for me in the end. Even if I didn't listen to it. I mean come on, I still had my plan to go and rescue Hisoka!

"Y-yeah….. Sounds cool." I stuttered, the uneasiness of the situation finally settling in Yuji nodded, and stood up. It was then I noticed the blush on his checks. I knew in that instant, that perhaps the predicament was both exactly what he wanted, and yet not what he wanted at the same time.

"I'll be coming for you later." Yuji said simply, trying to keep his embarrassment form his tone, though I could sense it still. He turned, and looked at me after a moment. "Oh, I forgot, what is it you needed me for?" He asked as if he had forgotten. I guessed Sakura must have told him I needed his help. I looked at my bag, took it off, and set it by my bed. The plan could always wait until later. Right?

"It doesn't matter now. I'll just deal with it on my own…. Later." I answered with some regret. He looked at me a moment longer, then nodded, and left closing the door behind him. I sighed, and shook my head. What on earth had I just done?


	5. mother and father

**Chapter Four: Mother and Father**

**The joys of parents are secret, and so are their griefs and fears: they cannot utter the one, nor will they utter the other**" **Francis Bacon, Sr. **

a/n: Gha, this chappie was sad for me to write :/ But it feels nice too in way. Anywyas, let me know if I should keep this idea or not!

I sighed heavily as I looked down at the creek. The waters ran so smoothly, and the waters were so clear. It was a very good place to come, and think. Somewhere peaceful, where nobody would come, and bother me for anything. The green, tall grass was also a comfort as well as the trees that grew tall. Some of the trees had markings form where countless generations of kids would come, and train. However, nobody used this spot anymore. Plants, and flowers of every kind were now free to grow. It was so quiet, you could hear the birds chirping their songs, animals scurrying about, and fighting for something or another.

It reminded me of the stream back when I was a kid. My father would always take me fishing there every weekend when he was done with work. I smiled remembering my parents…

Like any other boy, my hero was my father. My father looked exactly like me, and almost acted the same way. The only difference was that he was more reserved than I was. He was more withdrawn and hard-working than I ever was. He always seemed to have a problem with others being in his personal space, he always got uncomfortable when anyone touched him or got too close to him. I always thought it was funny, but the only people he didn't seem to mind having in his space was my mother, and, of course, his children. He always sensed the mood and refrained from speaking unless it was important to speak. When he did speak, it was always wise, and people usually did what he thought they should do. He also didn't show his feelings towards others, and often seemed cold, and distant. Around us it was almost the same, but we did see a few emotions that others did not see. He was generally a quiet person in all, but from stories I heard he had another side to him as well. I guess he loved drinking, and when he would get drunk he was loud, and abrasive, and said anything that came to his mind. He made sure we kids were well rounded people, with a good education, a good work ethic. He made sure we knew the value of a dollar, but he also made sure we knew all things we needed to know to become good people. He also allowed time for fun, and we often did things as a family. He spent time with both Haine and me, but more time with me. I always thought it was because he favored me over my sister. Or maybe it was because I was the first born son, and therefore would become the hair to his estate, or should I say become head of the family after he died. My father was very loving toward his kids and his wife, but when we kids needed discipline, he made sure that the punishment had fit the crime. He never abused, or neglected any of us. So, the punishments were never cruel, and unusual. He always made sure that his family never went without things we needed. We may not have had everything we wanted, but we had the things we needed, and that was more important than anything else.

My mother, on the other hand, was almost the complete opposite of my father. She was abrasive, and always spoke her mind. She was energetic, headstrong, and very affectionate. She loved having people around her, and enjoyed having many friends. She also made sure we felt loved and doted on us constantly. However, she had a dark side. If you made her angry, she made sure to get back at you tenfold. She always said that if someone hits you hit them back ten times harder than they hit you so that they learn never to mess with you again. Of course my father, who loved peace, often told us that while it was good to defend ourselves, we shouldn't go around hitting everyone who picks a fight with us. That would be a lot of people who would be hurt. My mother always ignored that fact though. She was also a very clean person. She never had us wear anything that was dirty, even if we only wore it for five minutes. She never cared what others thought about her. She loved art, cooking, cleaning, and history. She was the smartest person I ever met. However, she was also someone who was ruled mostly by her emotions. If she felt that something wasn't right, she would say so right away. My father almost always held back from saying what he truly felt unless it was his place to say so. My mother, though, was very beautiful. She had the curliest black hair, and green eyes. In fact, she looked a lot like Haine.

Anyways, one of my first memoires is when I was younger. I was about five years old when my parent had first told me the news that would change my life forever. I can remember that day clearly.

I was outside playing with my two cousins, Minori and Tamahiro, when I saw my mother open the door. I had a third cousin over that day, his name was Setsino, but he was more of a serious child, and did not like to get dirty unless it was necessary. He was inside reading some book he had bought over. My mother smiled, and then looked behind her as my father came up behind her. He gently wrapped an arm around her waist, and then they walked together towards me. Minori's dark green eyes looked at my parents, then at me several times before she went back to digging a hole in the ground. Tamahiro seemed to sense the mood of the atmosphere, and simply got up and left. I looked up at my mother, slightly confused.

"What's wrong Mother?" I asked looking from her to my father, and then back again.

"Come, Son. We have something important to tell you." My father said swiftly, and in a stern voice. I looked between my parents again, then stood up, and followed them inside.

My Aunt Izani and Uncle Bunki were sitting in the living room couch. My aunt had her long, curly blonde hair down, and her normally green eyes now held a hint of pink, which meant she was sensing auras. My uncle had his muscular arms around my aunt's waist, holding her close to his body. His own grey-sliver eyes also had a hint of green, he was moving some memories around, and his own black hair was down from its usual ponytail.

At the sound of us coming in, they immediately shut off their eye powers, sat up, and smiled at us.

"Have you told him the big news yet?" My aunt asked in an excited tone. She was a lot like Haine in how my aunt got excited over the littlest things, but that was common among Trackers in my family. My mother shook her head.

"No, we were waiting to come in before we told him anything." My mother said in reply as both she and my father sat down on the couch. I took the seat beside my father.

"Where's Minori? I saw Tamahiro come in, but not her." Uncle was always the serious type, and was always quick to the point about things. This was also a common trait among the battle-types in my family, which is why my father, uncle, and I to some extent or another, were very serious.

"Oh, she's still outside digging a hole." My mother said in an amused tone. Her eyes sparkled up at the thought of a little child digging a hole, though I didn't see the point of Minori digging a hole. What was going to do? Make a spider-hole, and hide in it?

"She's digging….. A hole?" My uncle asked in confusion as if he wasn't sure whether or not he was amused or not believing what my mother had told him. My mother nodded adamantly. I actually saw my uncle smile, it was the first time I had ever seen him smile about anything. My aunt turned towards me with a smile. I smiled nervously back at her. My mother smiled lovingly at me, and then turned, and faced me. The atmosphere of the room was staring to get to me, and I was beginning to get uncomfortable.

"Honey, we got something very special to talk to you about." She said in a tone that most people use when they're talking to kids. I huffed, and crossed my arms. I certainly thought I was a "Big Boy "and therefore didn't need to be spoken to like a baby.

"If it's the "special talk" that I got from Daddy then I don't wanna hear it again." I said stubbornly, remembering the sex talk my father had talked to me about a few weeks before. I didn't want to talk about those things **EVER** again, and not in front of other people. My mother looked at my father confused, but he merely shrugged. With a sigh, she shook her head, and then smiled back at me. She must have gotten what I meant.

"No, Honey, it's a different talk." She said with a slight smile. I looked at her curiously. She looked at my father, then back at me as if she were checking with my father to make sure it was ok to go on. "Well, remember how you said you wanted to be a Big Brother?" I thought for a moment, and then nodded swiftly. It was lonely being an only child. I wanted a brother to play with. "Well, I think you might get that wish very soon." I smiled widely at the news. All kinds of things began going through my mind.

"Will I get a baby brother like I wanted?" I asked, getting excited at the prospect of having someone else to play with besides my annoying cousins. My father smiled a bit, and ruffled my hair.

"We shall see." My father said simply, and then kissed my mother. "We shall see." He repeated as he pulled back from my mother's lips.

About eight months later, my mother had my little sister. I honestly was excited about being a big brother, even if it meant I had only a sister to play with. I imagined all the things I would show her, what I would teach her, what we would do together…. Basically, I thought about turning her into my own little midget minion that did whatever I wanted her to do. I imagined that I would teach her how to play solider, and all the best hiding spots. I imagined a lot of things.

My sister was a very calm baby. She didn't really seem to have the need for any attention. In fact, the only times I remember her crying was when she was hungry, or tired. She never even cried when she got sick, or at least hardly ever cried. She was very smart as a baby, and seemed to get the hang of things very fast. She was crawling around by the time she was about four and half months, and started walking when she was about nine months old. My parents picked up on how smart she was, but began to worry a lot about her too. So because of their constant worrying, they often spent more time with her than they did with me. When Haine was about a year and half, my father began to distance himself from Haine, and began to focus his attention on me, which I was happy about. I was starting to feel like an outsider in my own family, which caused some resentment towards my sister that I didn't want to have.

My father did alot of things with me. He would take me swimming, and fishing in the creek that was near the house. He would take me to train. He would teach me the proper way to hold a knife, how to fight using practically anything. He would do many things like that with me.

One day, when my father was training me for the entrance exams, my father began to talk to me about my sister.

"Now, Son, you do understand that as you are an older brother that your job is to protect, and make sure that your sister is safe, right?" He began as he motioned for me to stop practing the technique I had been working on. I did, and then he motioned for me to sit next to him. Which I did. He looked up at the graying sky for a moment, and then back at me with an intensity in his eyes that scared me, though I didn't let it show. I looked down at the green grass.

"Yes, Father." I said grudgingly, not really paying attention to my father at that point. My father nodded his approval.

"Then, do you remember what I told about those bad guys that wish to harm our family?" I looked up at my father questioningly. No, I did not remember my father mentioning this at all. My father smiled as if he understood that I did not remember what he had told me. He ruffled my hair a bit. "That's ok, My Boy. You were so young when I told you. Anyways, you must understand that when one group of people becomes very powerful, other people begin to fear them. They want to destroy them. They want them gone. Do you understand this?" His voice was beginning to gain some intensity. I froze more with fear.

"Yes Father."I said, getting a bit confused by where this was all coming from.

"That's my boy." He repeated with a smile that quickly fainted as his face grew sad. "Now, son, there are people, very bad people, who want nothing more than to harm our family. They may go after you or your sister, or even your mother and I. Now I want you to promise me one thing." His intensity was suddenly gone, and was replaced with a type of sadness.

"What is it Father?" I questioned, tilting my head slightly. I had never heard this tone from him.

"I want you to promise me that if something happens to our family, and no one is left to care for either you or your sister, that you will take care of her. I want you to protect her, and keep her safe from harm. Do you promise me this?" The insentiy was back, but it was different that I couldn't exactly explain. I thought for a moment before I answered my father. Then, grudgingly, I nodded.

"I promise father. I'll always protect Haine." Though, I have to admit at the time, I didn't feel like what I had told my father was the truth. It felt forced, but after I thought about it for awhile, the more I began to take on the real "big brother" vibe, and became very protective of my little sister.

My father smiled a true smile and ruffled my hair a bit.

"That's my boy." He said with a smile. I smiled too as my father began to teach me new tricks…..

Nothing really happened over the next three and a half years, so the promise I made to my father slipped back into my mind. Of course, we'd get news of the war, which would worry my parents, but nothing ever happened to my family. I went on to school, and made friends, came home, and did work. Every day was the same as the one before, but when Haine turned four, we had a big party to celebrate.

When a Sato turns the age of four, they are considered old enough to enter the local academy even though average child wouldn't enter until they were about six years old or eight years old, depending on how rich their families were. The reason Sato entered at such a young age was simply because the moment we start to walk, we are taught to fight. We are taught to fight so that we can be the best no matter what we're up against. That's how we were all raised, and it's even a bigger event for girls than for guys. Why? Well, girls born into the Sato clan are usually sectioned off, and they are sent to be Medics, or Trackers. Very few Sato women actually became the Battlers. My sister, however, was one of the few Sato who was a mixture of both a Tracker and a Battler. That was a rare mix, and so the event was huge for my sister.

I remember that day clearly. I was nine years old, and I was playing with Minori, who at the time was just barely ten years old, and my father had called us over. It was a rare occasion when all three branches of the Sato Came together. Why, you ask? The answer is simple.

Each branch considers themselves better than any other of the branches. The Battlers are the worst. They have an ego to fill an entire nation. As one could imagine, when people get together who think they are all better than one another, it causes some problems. It causes bad blood among each other. The ironic thing is a person couldn't marry another person within the same type as they. It was against the rules in my family. So people would have to get over family differences so that this could work out, but still the atmosphere was still pretty tense among those people. So, they never got around each other very often.

But, as I mentioned before, this day was special. Everyone in my family that was in our village turned out for the event. My sister got many presents from many people, a majority she had never even met before. They all seemed so happy to see her, and I have to admit I was jealous with all the attention Haine was getting. I mean, it was just a birthday. Nothing special, just something that happened every day, everywhere. To thousands of people everywhere! I honestly saw no point in making such a big deal out of it.

Anyways, enough of my pettiness. The one present that mattered most to her was a small, brown, stuffed teddy bear she had gotten from my father. The bear had a brown ribbon tied around the neck, and the arms, and legs were moveable. It was the only gift my sister had ever received exclusively from my father. She loved it almost immediately. My father got the most prideful expression on his face I had ever seen him get before as Haine grabbed the bear eagerly, and began playing with it. I couldn't help, but feel happy for her. It was her day after all. Even if I was extremely jealous of all the attention she was getting, I still was happy to see her happy.

"I'd like to propose a toast!" My father said loudly, in a commanding voice as he held up the glass filled with a type of red-purple wine. The chattering died down slowly, and everyone turned their attention to my father with a smile as they raised their cups filled with similar looking wine. I got the sensesation that we were about to crown a princess or whatever. He looked lovingly over at my little sister before he returned his gaze out to the crowd, and resumed his toast. "To my daughter Haine. I truly believe that she will be the future of our clan. She will be the one to show the world that we will no longer hide in the shadows! She will be the one to cleanse our name! She will be the one to show the world just how powerful we are! We'll rise again to our former glory! There will be a revolution! And my daughter will lead that movement, I truly believe it! So, let's guide her , and shape her! So that her destiny will come about! And we will be free from everything!" My father spoke with pride, and power that it moved everyone. I could tell. My family cheered, but I glowered at my smiling and laughing little sister. I became, at that moment, intensely jealous of her. My father was always training me. He was training me to be a warrior, to be the head of the family. I got jealous that it was Haine, whom he acknowledged as the one who would restore our clan. I felt at that moment, betrayed by my father. He had completely ousted me for Haine. I hated my sister at that point…..

After my sisters party, people began to treat her differently. My father seemed to focus more attention on her as he trained her to become the ultimate warrior. I felt jousted out of my place. I felt like my sister was put on some golden pedestal, while I was just some unmentionable child that my family kept out of their minds. I felt like I no longer mattered to my family. To put it simply, I felt as though I was the person they all knew I was there, but wished me gone. Nothing I ever did was good enough, and I never got any recgonization. While my sister got praised over the simplest of things she did. I hated my sister so much.

So, to compensate, I began to get competitive. I wanted to be better than my sister at everything. No, I wanted to be better than everyone at everything. I didn't want to be called weak, and I got deeply jealous when someone got praises for the same thing that I did. I wanted to be recognized as the best at everything, it didn't matter what it was. I would even cheat if it meant being better than anyone else. I craved attention, and was happy when I received it for something I did well. I felt superior at times when I would receive a complement that nobody else had received, though it would quickly be dashed away when I felt that someone else was better at it than me. I would get jealous of them, and I would shoot them down with sneering remarks, or judging them on the stuff they did. I still never felt like I was good enough, and I would do anything to gain attention like I mentioned before.

Anyways, on with the story. About six months after my sister's fourth party, my life changed forever. I can also remember that day clearly, but it's not something a person could easily forget either. It's kinda hard to forget when your entire world is turned upside down ya know.

During the six months, I hadn't really thought much about the promise I made to my father about my sister. It was always in the back of my mind, but my jealousy towards her made it difficult to concentrate on what I had promised my father. It was always there though, in the back of my head.

Anways,I was outside training hard when I saw some enemy soldiers make their way up our road. Their blue and black uniforms stood out immediately. I immedtaly got a bad feeling, and I'm ashamed to say it, but I panicked, and ran into the house.

"Mother! Mother!" I yelled frantically as I ran through the house. My heart raced when I heard no reply from anyone."Father! Father!" I called out even more frantically. I got no answer. "Mother! Father!" I yelled out as my father rounded a corner with a scowl. Haine was right behind him.

"What is it son? I'm busy training your sister." He answered sternly in his baritone voice. Haine was right behind him, her wide, lavender eyes looking around as if she too felt the bad aura I had sensed. However, I felt a wave of anger go through me, but I quickly put it away. There were more important matters at hand than my silly jealously.

"Enemy soldiers are coming for us!" I yelled out, unable to control my panic anymore. My father's eyes widened as he looked from me to my sister, and then at the closet.

"Son, Take Haine, and hide in that closet. Don't peek, don't let you sister come out, and don't come out until me or mother come and get you. Do you got it?" I nodded fast. My father smiled a bit.

"That's my boy. Now quickly go!" I felt pride at hearing my father's words: that's my boy. He always said that to me when I did something he was proud of.

After my moment of glowing pride, I picked up Haine, and ran to the closet. It was crowded, and tiny. I scrunched our bodies in, and kept my sister behind me. I made sure to leave the door open just a crack, but made sure we were both out of sight. I covered Haine's ears with one arm. One hand was over one ear, while I held her close to my side. My side covered her other ear. I, with one hand, made sure she couldn't see what was going on.

_Big Brother, what's going on? Why are we in the closet? Big Brother, I'm scared. Are we going to be alright Big Brother?_ I held my sister closer to me, trying to comfort her fears without saying anything, or doing anything that would attract attention.

_Don't worry Sister, I'm sure it's nothing. Me and you are going to be safe and sound. You'll see. Everything will be ok. Now just be quiet, and just wait. Don't do anything to attract attention to ourselves ok?_

_ Ok Big brother._

_ Ok, now be quiet, and wait patiently. Big Brother's here for you. I'll protect you._ I felt her nod against me, and I knew she understood the situation. Again, I tightened my hold on her, and rested my head against the top of her head, and peered out to what I could see.

The men wore the blue uniforms common among the elite warriors. The decorations only proved further that they were high ranking soldiers.

"I understand that you have the Tenth among your family." The man in front, I assumed to be the leader, spoke in a commanding voice. My father tightened up. So did I. The Tenth? What in hell did they mean?

"I do not know what you mean." My father said smoothly. I nodded slightly. I knew he was lying, but these men did not know my father. He was an excellent liar to the unsuspecting person.

"Do not lie, Sato. We know that your daughter is the Tenth Chosen One. Tell us where she is, and we promise to leave your family alone." I tightened up, and looked at my sister who was now shaking in fear. I couldn't see what happened next clearly, but I do know that my mother came out at that point.

"Big Brother-"

_Shhhhh! Be quiet, Little Sister! If they can't hear us, they won't find us! _

My sister nodded frantically. I looked out the door, and sighed when I heard two thumps outside.

_Stay here._

I slipped the words across my sister's mind, and ventured quietly out the door, and into the living room. The room was empty, so I quickly made my way to the window. I peeked up slowly, and saw nothing. I cringed at what I believed was a bad feeling, and walked outside. My father and mother were laying in a pail, my father lay across my mother, his chin resting on the other side of her stomach. My mother was dead, I could tell that, but my father was still alive. He weakly beckoned me over. Slowly, I walked over to him.

"Y-yes Father?" I asked in a shaky voice. Knowing my father was only moments from death. There was so much I wanted to tell him, but knew I didn't have the time to ask. So, I knelt in front of my father, my body close to his so that he could save whatever strength he had to tell me one last thing.

"D-do you remember what I asked you to do about your sister?" He asked softly. I thought for a moment then nodded."I need you to take care of her now. Can you do it?" My father's voice was getting weaker by the moment, but I wasn't ready to say good-bye just yet. I nodded again as tears came up to my eyes. My father smiled weakly."T-that's my boy…" My father's eyes closed as he died at that moment. My eyes spilt over with tears. There was so much I wanted to hear from my father, that I hadn't heard in a long time, and all he cared about was that Haine was going to be safe. So many feeling welled up[ inside of me, and were released at the same time. I got nothing from him that showed he cared for me.

"Big Brother why are Mother and Father asleep outside?" I glanced over at my little sister, my anger suddenly welling up at the sight of her frightened face.

"I-I thought I told you st-stay inside!"I yelled as I looked back at my parents dead bodies.

"I'm sorry Big Brother, but I got worried." I looked at my sister, unsure how to explain to her what had happened here. After all how do you explain death to someone who could not understand what death truly was?

I sighed, and shakily stood up. I looked at my sister for one last moment, and then walked over to her. I put my hand on her shoulder, and smiled at her reassuringly.

"Don't mention it. Let's just go back inside ok." I said in a soft tone, some new need to protect my little sister from that had really happened.

"Ok."She said simply. I smiled as some new emotion overcame me.

I took her hand, and lead her back inside….

I made sure my sister was down for sleep before I gave my parent a burial. I dug a shallow grave for the both of them with my bare hands, and then pulled them in. They were heavy, but I managed. After they were buried, I got four young tree branches, tied them together with a piece of twain into two separate crosses, and stuck them in front of each of my parent's grave. I then sat back, and looked at them. So many things were going through my mind, but at the same time I felt numb. I suddenly felt regretful for being so angry at my parents when it wasn't needed at all. I went through the whole sudda woulda coulda thing. My mind wasn't at peace with them for a very long time...


	6. banquet invation

**Chapter Five: Banquet Invitation**

**Of all base passions, fear is the most accursed. -**_**William Shakespeare**_

** A/n: well, This might be the last chappie I post today lol..Seriously let me know what you guys think~!**

I was gone for the better part of the day, and into the evening. I was working for a new family, and they had me do some hard work. I was looking forward to coming home. I trudged sleepily into my house, only to notice that Asami, and her whole family had gathered around the living room. They all turned at the sound of my entry, as if they had been expecting me. I then saw my sister sitting next to Yuji.

_Haine, what the hell is going on? Why the hell are the Kishie's here. I believe my exact words were I did not want them in the house after- _

_Big brother, don't worry…. Well At least don't worry about them being here. We….. We all need to talk to you about something very important, so please sit down._ I looked at my sister warily, not sure exactly how I felt about this situation. With a sigh, I sat next to Satoshi, who looked at me very seriously. However he was not the one who spoke up first, it was actually Asami that spoke up, though that didn't surprise me at all. She always had a "take- charge" attitude.

"Tenzo, we know that what we're about to say to you may actually make you mad, but you have to understand what is at stake here." Asami looked at my sister tenderly for a moment, and then looked at me. "But, you have to understand what the circumstances are here. Your sister understands, and she's made a very grown-up decision, now you must do the same." I looked at my sister.

_What the hell is going on Haine? What the hell did you do? _Haine smiled slightly.

_I didn't do anything wrong Big Brother. They simply need your permission to do something. Now, pay attention and you'll see what I mean._ I sighed, and looked back at Asami.

"Just tell me what it is." I said flatly, looking at her seriously.

"Look, Tenzo, your sister needs protection. Not to mention her pregnancy, but she's also a Chosen One, we can't just let her roam free, doing as she pleases. She's dangerous, especially now that she's going to have a baby. She needs to be on constant watch." I felt anger rise up inside me at her words, and tone. She was right. I was royally pissed.

"Look, my sister is not dangerous. I've never seen her hurt anyone that didn't deserve it. She's not some soulless monster; she's just as human as you or me. She doesn't deserve to be locked away, and kept a secret like some horrible thing that we want to just disappear. Just tell me what you plan on doing with her and then get out of my house."

_Big Brother, please watch your tone. I actually agree to this. _I gave my sister a hard look.

_Yeah, just what exactly does it all mean? What -_

"Please, we beg of you to understand our view point. My mother may have worded it wrong, but we honestly have no intentions of keeping her a secret. What we merely intend to do is just keep watch over her, and make sure that everything is going ok. If we suspect anything might go wrong with the pregnancy, well…. We'll just cross that bridge if we get there. Before you ask, Haine will be staying with us, under my supervision." I looked at Yuji, not sure what to think. Then, I looked at my baby sister. We had never really been apart for any reason before. Sure, sometimes we were separated at times, but those were always short periods of time. We always got to see each other within a few days at the most. I looked at her, and felt my heart pulling painfully. I just didn't know when, and if I'd ever see her again. Haine seemed to sense my fright.

_Don't worry Big Brother, as long as I'm alive, I'll talk with you every day. It'll be like I'm never really gone. I'll just be that crazy voice in your head…. Well, I'll join the rest of them anyways._ I smiled at her sarcastic and teasing tone. She always did tease me that way.

_You're really ok with this? We won't see each other for a very long time._ She smiled slightly, and nodded.

_Don't worry Big Brother; I knew right from the start what I was getting myself into. Besides, it'll just be good-bye for now. It won't be forever._ I smiled slightly at her words. She was right, it wouldn't be forever.

"Ok, I understand." They all smiled.

"Ok! Then, it is time to get you ready!" Sakura stood, and all but dragged Haine to her room.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I sighed heavily as I walked down the hall, and up to the roof of the hideout. It was lonely, and the moon had begun to come up, showing off the beautiful stars. I lay back on my back, and began to ponder at all that had happened within the last few weeks. Maybe it was wrong for me to betray everyone. Maybe I should have stayed with the gang, but there was no way I could go back now.

"There you are!" I jumped slightly at the sharp yell of my partner. She looked at me with a scowl on her pretty face. "I've been looking for you for like an hour!"

"I'm sorry. I just had a lot to think about…." She scoffed as she sat next to me.

"Well, get over it. There's nothing you can do to go back, and fix what you did." I sighed, and shook my head.

"I'm not regretting anything I did. I never regret anything I do." I said simply as I went back to watching the night sky. My partner sighed, and sat beside me. I looked at her, and checked out her features.

"So what's your name? I never learned it." The girl's slivery eyes looked at me; her eyes seemed to pierce right through me.

"It's Akia." She said as swiftly as she sat next to me. I looked at her again, checking out her features, but paying more attention to her details.

She had beautiful black, curly hair that reached down to the middle of her back. She had pale skin, and big slivery eyes. She had several scars, but I assumed they were from the three years she spent fighting in the civil war that took place in the Snow country a few years ago. Of course the civil war was still going, but she had chosen not to fight anymore. She also had a huge burn mark on her left arm, which descended down her arm, across her chest, and down her right leg, only stopping at her knee. She often wore a tight, form fitting black tang top, which was cut, and exposed her flat, smooth stomach. She also wore a short black skirt, which was over black shorts. She had black, knee-high boots, and her hair was done up in a ponytail.

"So what's your story Akia?" Her hard eyes looked at me softly, with some confusion. I sat up, and looked at her. "I mean, if you believed so much in the civil war in the Snow Country, how come you didn't stay, and fight?" Akia was quiet a moment before she answered my question. Her dark eyes looked down sadly, and for a moment I was afraid she was going to cry.

After a moment of her silence, she took a deep, calming breath, and looked at me with soft eyes.

"War is hell. In war, the dead often pay the prices of the living, but it all comes to pass. Our enemies become our trading partners, and they will longer be called "enemies". They will become our "friends." Of course, a relationship built on former hate, and mistrust never thrives, and those thin boundaries shrivel down. They keep shriveling down until it all explodes violently, and then that fragile peace is broken. War breaks out, and people die. Humans weren't meant to be peaceful creatures. It is in our nature to be violent, and hate one another. Even friendships are based on what the other has to offer, and when those needs are filled up, they exit our lives. Humans are lonely creatures, and sometimes we just want to be loved. Sometimes, it doesn't even matter who, or what, loves us. Just as long as we're not alone." Her voice quivered, and she looked away for a moment. Then, she looked back at me with a fire in eyes. "I'm sure many people have wondered why I stopped fighting, but none have had the gull that you have to ask. So I'll tell you something that I have never told anyone….. When I was younger, I use to be carefree. I use to go about my days, not giving a care what happened to those around me. I came from a rich family, and I was spoiled. They gave me whatever I wanted, that is….. As long as I behaved. 'We have your father's political career to think about. You can't do whatever you want. It could ruin your father's reputation.' My mother often told me. I learned to bury my feelings so that I wouldn't embarrass my father. My family was very protective of me, and rarely let me outside the walls of my home. So, I was completely ignorant of the outside issues. So, I was shocked to learn of my family's dark secret." She paused, as if for effect as she looked at me.

"What is it?" I asked, really interested in what she had to say. She was one hell of a storyteller. She smiled ruefully.

"My family…. A long time ago back in the first war, had taken the Sato hostage as spoils of war. Of course, that power we had over them quickly turned against the Sato. We essentially enslaved the entire Sato clan. Of course, there was one family that had escaped, and when they were killed, that set off the entire civil war between the Sato and my family, the Yuakizmeia's. I felt sorry for the Sato. I mean, what right does another human have to own another human being? It simply isn't right. So, I fought on their side. Well, I eventually began to have feelings for a Sato. His name was Renji, but he was killed. By that point, I had had two kids, a son and a daughter, but my family had hated me for joining up with the Sato, so they said that because my kids were of Sato blood, they were no longer my kids. They belonged to my family. They stole my kids away from me…." Her voice became sad, and she looked away for a moment. I had the strongest urge to pull her into a hug, but held back. After a few more minutes, she continued. "Anyway, I had a brother named Tenchi, but he had been missing for years. After my kids were taken away, I learned that he was a Chosen One, and sent to the Forest Country to work. I knew what that meant, and I became very sad. When my brother was younger, we were very close. I became sad at the thought that he was going to die….. Anyway, when the war was bought to the Forest, I immediately dropped out of the war when Master came to me, and asked me to join The Hunters. I didn't want to hurt the village that was taking care of my brother. However, another reason was because I had heard that my brother had gotten involved with a Sato. I thought about myself, and what I had gone through. I couldn't face them." Shock ran through me as I heard who her brother was. Tenchi was involved in the family that had enslaved Haine's own family? I sighed heavily. It all sounded like a bad soap-opera episode.

"Sounds like you had a good reason to leave…" I said absentmindedly. She looked at me, and nodded. Her soft look quickly hardened.

"I swear by Kami, if you ever tell anyone what I just told you, I'll stick my foot-"I laughed, and threw up my hands.

"Hey, I swear not to tell anyone." She grinned happily.

"Good." I smiled slightly as I looked at her again. Maybe being with the Hunters wasn't going to be so bad…..

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I smiled happily as I watched Yuji instruct his younger students how to properly tie their weapon pouch. It seemed like such a simple thing to do, but these were little kids, and Yuji had me to deal with. So, today was slow day.

"Sensei, why is that girl with you today?" A bright blue eyed, brown haired girl inquired as she looked me over with a questioning expression, then she looked back at Yuji, a playful hint in her eyes. "Is she your _girlfriend_?" She giggled childishly along with her other classmates.

"Uhhh…." He looked dumbfounded at the child, his face red. I giggled, but felt my own cheeks reddening. He looked back at me, as if wanting me to help him out. I shook my head, and looked at the little girl.

"I'm not his girlfriend; I'm just a very close friend of his. He talks about you guys so much that I just wanted to see you guys for myself." The girl who had called Yuji out, blushed, and went back to tying her bag. I smiled, and chuckled lowly. The small child reminded me of myself when I was her age.

After the lesson with the children was over, Yuji looked at me, and smiled.

"Well, I'm glad that torture is over with." I giggled as he sat beside me.

"Well, if you hate it so much, why teach them? Can't you quit?" Yuji looked at me, his face red.

"Well, if I could do that, I would, but I was ordered to teach them….. I mean, aside from you, I'm the best warrior the military has. So when I'm off duty, they have me come down to the younger school, and teach the kids. It's easier for them this way." I nodded in understanding. Guess it would only make sense to have the best warrior I knew to teach the younger kids stuff when he was off duty.

"Well, I'm not really the best…. You're waaay better than I could ever hope to be." He smiled as he looked me over.

"You mean that?" I nodded.

"Mmmmhmmmm. I wouldn't have said it, if it wasn't true."

"Well…. What a compliment." I nodded, and looked up at the sky.

"Uhhh, Hey Haine?" I looked over at Yuji, questioningly.

"Yeah, what's up?" I asked after a few moments when he didn't answer me.

"I was ummm wondering if we could go out sometime. I mean, I know you're with Tenchi, and everything, but I also know that you don't really like him as much as you use to…. I don't mean to over step any boundaries-"I smiled slightly, and blushed deeply. He looked over at me, a panicked expression as if he had been caught doing something bad.

"I think I have plans for some time." I said in a smart Alec tone. He smiled, and shook his head.

"Well, maybe tonight we can go out, and do something." He offered. I shook my head, laughing slightly.

"Sorry, but I think I was gonna do something tonight." He grinned, and shook his head.

"Ok, well how's this? I was wondering if you'd like to go to a dinner and a movie with me tonight. Saaay around eight o' clock?" I smiled, and looked at him.

"Yeah, sounds good." He smiled, and kissed my check.

"Well, then it's a date." I smiled at him.

"Sounds good." I said as I went back to watching the clouds.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I scowled at the ground as I stood against the wall with one leg against it. I tried to keep myself out of the sunlight.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I glared at Haku as he walked over to me, and sat beside me. I sighed heavily. Why did he always have to miss the obvious? "Look, if you're jealous about Haine -"

"Shut the hell up." I said angrily, and went back to scowling at the ground. Haku sighed in annoyance, and then looked down at the ground.

"All I'm saying is that Haine wouldn't cheat on anyone. She's very faithful to the people she loves. Yuji wouldn't over step his boundaries. He knows you two are in love, and he wouldn't want to break you two up. So really, you have nothing to be jealous of." I looked at Haku, and sized him up. He hated Haine, why would he try to defend her?" Look, I know that I messed up in the past because I was jealous of her, but I don't want to see her get another broken heart." He looked up at me with a slight smiled." I just want to know that you two won't break-up. She's a good girl, and she deserves someone like you." I looked at him surprised again.

"You don't have anything to worry about." I said in a slightly better tone. Haku merely stared at me a moment, then nodded slowly, looking away.

After a few moments, my anger subsided, and I looked at Haku, sizing him up.

"Besides, why are you trying to defend her? You hate Haine." Haku was silent a moment, then he looked at me, his eyes searching mine as if he were trying to make me understand something he was trying to tell me. After a moment, he looked down as if he was searching for a way to tell me what was on his mind. Then, after another ten minutes, he looked at me, his eyes hard.

"I don't really hate Haine, I don't really hate anyone. I just don't like her that much. She annoys me, and no one seems to get it." He said as he got up, and quickly walked away. I watched him leave.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I smiled politely at my sister as she walked in the door with a happy bounce to her step.

"What's wrong with you? Did that boyfriend of your finally ask you to marry him?" Haine stopped mid-step, and looked at me, her face redder than a tomato. "I mean, what's wrong? You're usually not this happy….."

"It's nothing. You know me, my moods change!" I smiled slightly, and nodded. It was true; her moods did change quite a bit. Still, I wasn't going to let that slip through my face. I looked at her, my eyes hardening the slightest of ways.

"Haine, seriously…. What's going on? You never talk to me anymore." She looked at me as if she had been hurt, then shrugged slightly.

"Don't worry about it Big Brother. Everything's going to be ok. I promise, nothing's wrong with me. The baby is ok, and I'm not planning on running away. Big Brother, why can't you just trust me? I got everything under control."

"The last time you said that, you were hospitalized no less than three days after you had uttered those words." I said flatly, as I got up, and walked over to her. I knew her well enough, that she didn't have to tell me something was wrong. I could sense it just by looking at her. I put my hands on her shoulders, and turned her to face me. "Listen, Little Sister, I promised Father I would take care of you, and I'm not planning on breaking that promise just because you got mister muscle man to protect you. You'll always be my little sister, and therefore, I want you to tell me if something's wrong with you. Ok?" Haine looked at me, her eyes hardening slightly. She moved her shoulders out of my grip, and huffed.

"Look, just because I am your little sister, doesn't mean I have to tell you everything that happens to me. I'm a grown adult, and I can do whatever I want to do. You don't own me." I scowled at her tone.

"Listen Haine and you listen well. You're sixteen years old, you're still a child. You got more than just yourself to think about. You got your child to think about, and I pray to god that you won't do anything reckless like you have in the past. You have to grow up-"

"This comin from the guy who left me in the streets when I was just five years old for three months. This coming from the guy who abandoned his loved one when she needed him most, and I'm not talking about me. This coming from the guy who's ran from every responsibility ever given to him, including myself. This coming from the guy whose whole life is one big, fat lie? Why should I trust anything you say?" With that, she turned on her heel, and left the house. I was left standing there with my mouth agape. She had never spoken to me in such a manner before.

I was ready to give her a piece of my mind, when a knock came to the door. I sighed heavily, still aggravated by the verbal fight with Haine, and then went to answer the door.

"Hello?" I said probably with more irritation than needed. I looked at the people who had come to the door.

There were two of them, a man, and a woman. The woman had long, dark reddish hair that was a beautiful shade of red. Her eyes were blue, but seemed to bore into my own, as if she were going to suck my soul. Her skin was absolutely flawless, and she wore a tight fitting, Chinese styled shirt that was white. She wore white pants, and her hair was tied back. The man was taller than me by several inches. He had jet black hair, and brown eyes that seemed to draw a person right into them. He wore a more relaxed version of a kimono; brown was the first layer while the top layer was blue. His hair was cropped short, but looked a bit uneven.

"We have come to relay a message to this branch of the Sato family. The Rain Lord has missed his little free clan, and wishes to meet up with both you, and your little sister Haine. He is sorry for banishing you from your home, and wishes to make it up to you." The woman handed me a scroll. I took it, but looked at her suspiciously.

"It's an invitation to a dinner party taking place in three months. I believe that is enough time for you to pack, and get there just in time." The man said in a deep voice. I looked at it, then at them.

"Count us there." I said dryly, and went back inside, closing the door behind me. I looked tentatively at the invitation, and then opened it up.

To the Sato family of the Forest:

I understand that our…. Viewpoints differ quite a bit when it comes to your family's freedom. But I implore you to come to this dinner party taking place in three months time. We will be discussing the worth of your family, and therefore decide what to do. I understand that this means much to you, so I ask that you come, not as a prisoner or however you will take this, but as a comrade. With the past we will build a better future for future generations.

**Rain Lord Kiku Shibasmi**

I glared at the scroll slightly, and gripped it tightly in my hands. Now that bastard wanted to talk about my family's freedom? After my father had asked so many times before?! Who the fuck did he think he was?! With another sigh, I set the piece of paper down on the table, and sat on a chair with my face in my hands. How could I possibly put Haine in danger? He tried to have her killed before, more than once, how can I trust that this isn't some kind of trick to get our guards down? I sighed, and looked at the invitation again. I normally didn't get bad feelings like this, so to get this feeling now…. Something bad was bound to happen sooner or later.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Haine? Talk to me. What's going on? Tell me._ I let the words softly slip into Haine's mind. She looked at me, and glared.

_Shut up Tenchi. For once, I'm not in the mood to deal with you._ I felt sting of her words in my mind, and I flinched slightly. She sighed, and looked at me._ Right now, all I wanna do is drink myself stupid, but I can't because I got your demon seed growing inside of me._ I didn't reply like I wanted to, and just chalked up her mood to her pregnancy hormones. _It's not the hormones this time ya moron. I'm pissed at my brother, and there's not a damned thing I can do. Seriously, who the fuck does he think he is? Giving me lectures about responsibility, and growing up? He needs to climb on down from that high fucking horse of his before I knock his ass off of it._ I shrank back again, unsure of how to deal with this situation. I had never seen Haine so worked up before. She looked at me, and then sighed, an apologetic look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you Tenchi. It's just that so much is going on here lately that it's getting to me." I sighed, and held her close to me.

"Haine, don't worry about it. It's ok for you to snap under pressure. Nobody's judging you." She looked up at me.

"But that's just it Tenchi. Everyone's judging me now. They're treating me as if I'm some kind of disease that needs to be kept under watch. Everyone's scared of me, and I never thought I'd have to feel like this ever again, but I do now. One step backwards and I'll be sent far away from here. Far away from all my friends, and family. One step forward and they get scared. They'll keep me under more scrutiny. I can't do anything about it either, and that part seriously sucks….." I looked at her with soft eyes, unsure of how to comfort her.

"Haine, I'm sure once all these issues go away nobody will be looking at you strange anymore. People only fear what they don't understand, and they're even more fearful of things they don't understand when something bad is going on. They don't understand our kind, and how this war has affected our kind as well, and once-"

"That's just it Tenchi. People will never understand our kind. We will always be feared….." With a sigh, she looked away her blue eyes getting a sad hue to them. I had to say I didn't like her talking like this. She reminded me if Hisoka when she spoke like this. Like there was no hope. I shook my head, and looked at her.

"Listen Haine, people aren't always going to fear us. There will be one day when people understand us, and we will become friends with normal people who don't have our kinds of power. People just fear us for the time being because they don't understand us." She looked back at me, and glared.

"How stupid are you?! Do you really believe people will understand us?! Much less, trust us?! People only trust what they know, and they don't know our kind. Nor do they care enough to get to know us, and therefore we could never be friends with normal people. Why can't you understand that?" With a heaved sigh, she shoved me away, and then walked away. I stumbled slightly, and then looked at her shocked at how she was treating me. Haine seemed to be coming undone at the seams…..

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I walked angrily to Yuji's house. I wasn't sure exactly what I was angry at until I sat by the lake, and really thought about it. Was I angry with myself for, in a sense, betraying Tenchi's trust? Angry at my brother for not trusting me? Angry at everyone for treating me like some dangerous animal, and caging me up? Angry at the hunters for taking my friends away from me? Angry at everything? I shook my head, as I dipped my fingers into the clear water, making ripples on my reflection. I couldn't name it exactly, but I was angry, and hurt, and sad, and… just every emotion out there that I could name. I felt a wide range of emotions, probably building up form my childhood, and only now was coming out. I tucked my feet under me, and squeezed my eyes shut tightly to stop the tears that were threatening to overflow from my eyes.

I opened my eyes, as I sensed a presence come to me. I looked up, my eyes teary but not over spilling, and there stood Yuji. He smiled at me slightly, and sat next to me._ Is everything ok? _He thought. I smiled at him, and nodded.

_Don't worry about it Yuji. It doesn't involve you. I'm just being emotional. Y'know the pregnancy hormones messing with me, and shit._ He nodded slightly, and then looked away.

_Your brother bought something here for you_ I looked at him with an eyebrow raised. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a scroll. I looked at it curiously, then reached for it, and began reading it. My eyes widened, and my heart raced, which caused me to shake. I wasn't angry, like I had been for while. No, I was suddenly fearful…_ what's it say?_ He thought as he took in my reaction. I shook, my head, and then ran out of the lake's area. I had to talk to my brother….


	7. the price of pain

**Chapter Six: The Price of Pain**

"**I understand with love comes pain, but why did I have to love so much?**"-anonymous

A/n: Another sad chappie, but I honestly believe the quality goes downhill from here lol

Hopes, dreams, love, trust, honesty… All words that no longer hold any meaning to me. They're words meant for children, and fools, so it gives them some kind of hope this world is filled with happiness, hope, and good things. But to someone like me, who's seen too much of this cruel, heartless, cold world to believe those things, know it's one fat lie. It's all a lie. All a lie… This world is filled with criminals, crooks, thieves, murders. Someone's always out to get you whether you want to believe it or not. Nobody's perfect, despite what people may say about themselves. Nobody can predict how they will be in the future. Nobody can say what they will be like from one day to the next. We all live in our fantasies, and believe only what we perceive to be realty, and banish all other realities form our minds, and call them fantasies. Well, my reality is something straight from a horror movie. You may call me evil, a disgrace, or whatever it is that comes to your mind when you think of my name, but stop, and ask yourselves. Am I all that, and more, or am I product of my environment? Was I born evil? No I wasn't, I suppose. I use to be a good person, and I did the right things, or in my opinion I did. So ask yourselves, what made me into the person I am today? I could name off many things, but listen to my tale, and maybe you'll understand what happened to make me this way. Hopefully, you'll be forced to ask yourselves was I born bad? Was I born evil? Perhaps some of you will come to that conclusion. Still, others will say that this cruel, wicked, cold world made me into the person I am today… Again, listen to my tale, and perhaps you'll understand…..

I suppose I should start when I was just a mere child of five. My parent where killed off when I was four years old. I had two younger siblings, twins in fact, so it was up to me to raise them. There was a boy, named Izumo, and a girl, Fumiko. They were just two years old, and didn't really understand what was going on in the world around them. It was the middle of war, and my home had no compassion for people like us, even if we were as young as we were. Not to mention, that because of the war solders' occupied our village, and stole everything they could get their hands on. So people really had nothing to give to the poor like us. So, I committed petty crimes so that my family could survive. I stole food, and money, and clothes. Sometimes, we had no shelter, so when it would rain, we got extremely wet. Sometimes, we could go months without bathing ourselves. We would go weeks without food, and our clothes? Well, sometimes they were tattered, and barely covered us. Hell, I was in worse condition than my siblings simply because I purposely went without just so that they could have what they needed to survive. I never complained though. Surely there were people who were worse off than us, I would often think to myself. I had no childhood because I had to grow up at such a tender age, and raise my own siblings. They needed me, and I was going to protect them with my life.

When I was ten years old, something happened that would decide the course of life I would take.

My little sister, at the time was eight years old, was out cleaning this person's house. Normally, she came home before dusk, but on that day….. She didn't come home. I waited for hours, and hours, but she never showed up.

"Big Brother, we need to go look for Fumiko. What if something happened to her?" Izumo was a very insightful boy, so with some reluctance I agreed to go look for her.

Hard times had fallen on everyone, even the soldiers that was stealing everything from everyone, but what I saw that day… It makes me shudder to even remember it.

My younger brother and I were looking for Fumiko, and found her dead in an ally way by a house. I froze when I saw her laying on the ground like she had been asleep, and saw the blood, but my young mind just hoped she had knocked herself unconscious. Though, I knew it was foolish to believe that. I felt a pang in my heart as I drew closer to her body, and noticed the pool of blood that surrounded her body. A lump rose in my throat, and I looked down at my younger brother. He hid behind me fearfully.

"Big Brother…. Is Fumiko ok?" I stared at my sister; barely register what my brother had said. All I saw was my little sister dead on the ground."Big Brother, Fumiko doesn't look well…" I bite down on my lip to prevent the tears from falling from my eyes. I had to be the pillar of strength for my brother. I couldn't let him see my own fear, or he himself would become fearful.

"She…She's ok." I said quickly, trying to shield my brother from the horror, though I knew it was probably too late." C-c'mon… well, go get Fumiko some help." I said as I ushered my brother off into the street, and went back to my sister. He looked at me fearfully, and I looked back at him. "Go Izumo! Go get help for sister!" He looked at me a moment longer, then nodded, and ran to get help. With a gulp, I scrambled over to my sister, and picked her up gently. Though, I immediately regretted doing that. Her insides were completely hallowed out. Nothing remained. Where her stomach, and all her organs, save for her heart and lungs, should have been where completely gone. Carved out. I heaved, and almost dropped her, but held on to her like she would magically come back if I held on to her just a bit longer.

When my brother came back, without help, he fainted at the sight of my sister. I had to reluctantly leave him as I walked a few feet away, and began digging a hole with my bare hands so that my sister could have proper burial. It took me hours, and by that time my brother had woken up dazed but helped me anyways. Finally, after eight hours of grueling work, my sister was buried. My brother and I stood there, looking at the freshly dug grave, and had moment of respectful silence, before we walked off to our usual corner of sanctuary, and cried that night.

By the time I was thirteen, my younger brother had also died. But he wasn't murdered, no. This time, it was a terrible sickness that had taken his young life away from him. So, I was alone in the world. Without family, without friends, and without anyone to care for me, and for awhile I preferred it that way. People who had bonds with other people, only got hurt in the end. Everyone leaves everyone sooner or later, and I rather would not be hurt by anyone ever again.

So, that's how it was for the longest time. I stayed in the village, but I never kept any close friends. I was like a little speck just floating around. Everyone knew I was there, but nobody paid attention to me. I did the same. I didn't pay attention to them, and they didn't pay attention to me. And that's the way I liked it.

When I was sixteen, I moved from the village. It simply hurt too much to be around that place that had nothing but sad, painful memories for me. I didn't really stay in one place for very long, but found odd jobs to keep myself afloat. I never really kept any close friends until I was eighteen, and someone entered my life that I thought would change my life forever.

I was staying in the small, newly developed land of Koi, and I owned a house of my own for the first time in a long time. I didn't put too much in the house, after all I had no idea when I would leave, but it was comfortable enough. It seemed the land of Koi was where dreams and hopes could develop, even if I had long ago given up on such things. Despite this, I felt oddly happy there. People from all over the world, or at least those who were seeking refuge from the war, had come to Koi in hopes of having a better life. For the most part, Koi did a fantastic job of keeping people afloat during such turbulent times. People had jobs with decent paying, and they had housing. Their families were fed, and nobody went without. People prospered here, and everyone seemed happy.

Anyways, I was working as a carpenter's apprentice, when the girl had come in. she was a beautiful little number. She had curly brunette hair, and wide hazel eyes. She had an air of… naiveté, and hospitably around her. She smelled of roses, and sakura blossoms. I was immediately enticed by her.

"Ummm, I'm looking for Mr. Tamazaki. Is he here?" Tamo Tamazaki, my master, was the carpenter who ran this business. He was out that day, so I was watching the shop for him. I smiled, and leaned on the counter. She had the most beautiful voice. Like I siren's song, I wanted to hear more.

"I'm sorry, but he isn't here. May I help you?" She blushed slightly, which made my heart jump, and smiled kindly.

"Well, my mother, uhhh Santijimo, had sent a jewelry box here to be fixed. Is it done?" Santijimo? I recalled that name, and smiled lop-sidely.

"Yes, it is done, but first. May I get your name?" she smiled shyly, and titled her head in respect before she answered me.

"My name is Saimanjo. Who are you?" I blushed slightly as her eyes looked into mine, but kept my cool.

"It's Daiki Hirojimia." She smiled as I bowed my head in the same respect, and then turned, and left to get her jewelry box.

I returned a short while later, it was rather difficult to find, and returned it to her. She paid me what was due, but hesitated to leave. I looked at her curiously as she nervously switched her weight from foot to foot.

"What's up?" I asked curiously. She looked up at me shyly.

"Well, it's just that people aren't that nice to me, and well, you're being very nice to me. See, where I come from when men are this nice to someone like me, well its customary for the girl to invite the man to dinner, and ummm… my mother is throwing a very special party tonight to celebrate my fifteenth birthday. Would you like to come and celebrate?" I blushed a little, and nodded.

"Yeah. Sounds fun." She smiled a bit wider, and looked into my eyes.

"I've seen you around the apartment complex. I live two apartments away from you, but I noticed you're always by yourself. What happened to your family?" I looked down from her hazel eyes, and sighed heavily. She titled her head, as if confused by my reaction.

"They died. When I was young." I said in a clipped tone, not really wanting to continue this convocation. She seemed to sense it, and quietly left.

I closed shop early that day. Normally, we stayed open until dusk, but the sudden convocation with that girl, made me remember my family. The family I had lost. The family I no longer had. The thought made my heart twist into painful coils in my chest. So, I was forced to close shop early, but it gave me time calm down before the party started. I did odd jobs around the house, and cleaned the entire house. I did anything as long as it kept the memories of what I had lost out of my mind.

Around six'o clock, I began to groom myself up for the party. I found my best clothes, and threw them on, and then looked myself over in the mirror. My bright red hair was nicely slicked back, it was short back then, and I looked cleaner than I had in months. Happy with my appreance, I walked over to Sanimajo's house, and knocked on the door. She answered the door, and smiled widely.

"I'm so glad you came." She said in her cheerful voice, and then stepped aside so that I could have room to enter the house. I smiled, and entered the house.

"Make yourself at home. I'll be back soon." I nodded, and sat down on a white couch that was in the middle of the living room. I looked around the rather large apartment, and felt strangely at home. There was something about that house that made me feel so comfortable. Like I was home at last after so long…..

A short while later, Saimanjo returned. I looked up at her, and smiled as I stood up. She wore a beautiful red kimono with a simple black sash around her waist. She had her hair down around her face, which framed it beautifully. I felt my heart skip beats as she smiled at me.

"So, where's the party at?" I half laughed out of nervousness. Saimanjo smiled apologetically, and blushed.

"There actually isn't a party at my house. I meant to invite you to the spring festival, but I wasn't sure if you'd agree to come…" I smiled, and shook my head, as I grabbed her hands. She looked up at me.

"I'd be a fool if I didn't agree." She smiled, and then we walked out.

I was so busy, I forgot about the festival, and it was nice to attend it as well. Saimanjo was very good company, and kept me busy as well. We went from booth to booth, and played many of the games that were available. I won her a few stuffed animals, which she seemed to enjoy. Then, we ate some traditional festival food, and drink. After we ate, we gathered with the rest of the civilians of Koi around a beautiful lake, and watched some fireworks, along with some entertainment. It was a wonderful night.

After that night, Saimanjo and I spent every moment we could together. I hated the fact that I could feel myself building a bond with someone, but I couldn't help but become close with this girl that had shown me kindness. We spoke a lot, about many different topics, and we really got to know each other well. However, I reframe from telling her some of my more private memories, and she seemed fine with it. She seemed to know boundaries pretty well, and when she saw that she hit a raw nerve, she always changed the subject. I'm still thankful that she did that, but also a bit saddened by that fact as well. Maybe if I had someone to try to make me talk about those memoires, I would have turned out differently. On the other hand, I was glad she didn't press me to tell her about those thoughts that even I didn't like to remember. She told me a lot about herself as well. She told me about her family, and how she was from a family that was currently "working" for another family, but I knew by her tone what that really meant, but I didn't press for more information. She told me how her mother was the only person she knew of that was freed from this "work", and that all her descendents were supposed to be freed as well. She told me how her father had ran out on her mother when Saimanjo was just two years old, and she had no clear memoires of her father. I told her a little bit about my parents, what I could remember of them anyways. She thought it was sad that I lost my parents so young, but I never told her about my siblings. It hurt too much to remember them.

We spoke about other light-hearted things as well. We spoke about my work; by the time I was eighteen I owned my business, and how everything was going with other customers. She was a frequent, and very precious, customer. We also spoke about her schooling; she was going to college to become a teacher to little kids. We spoke about her mother's well-being, and things going on in the world around us. We spoke about political things, which I enjoyed. We spoke about the upcoming elections, and which candidate would be better to rule over Koi. We, for the most part, had the same views on most things.

It wasn't until I was nineteen, that I confessed my feelings to her. I remember that day very clearly.

We were walking along the shore of the lake that surrounded Koi, and talking about small things. I thought it was about time, after three years of having a crush on her, to confess to her.

"Hey, Sani?" Sani was the nickname I had been calling her for awhile by that point. She looked at me, and smiled a smile that made my heart skip beats.

"Yes, Daiki?" She said, slightly amused as I became flustered.

"I uhhh… I like you. I mean, I like you like a lot. Ever since I first met you, I've liked you a lot, and it seems to have grown….I mean I-I….." She giggled slightly, and gently grabbed me by the wrist, and pulled my face to hers until we were so close that I could feel her hot, sweet breath on my face.

"You talk too much." She said softly, and then kissed me. I felt shocked that she, a girl, had made the first move. That wasn't something I was use to, but I liked it none-the-less. After my initial shock melted away, I wrapped my arms around her thin, feminine figure, and pulled her close to me. She smiled into the kiss, and wrapped her arms around my neck, her fingers intertwined with my red hair as we stood there kissing each softly.  
After a moment, we pulled back from each other lips, and stared at each other. I gently caressed her blushing checks, and she smiled in the slightest of ways. She then turned her eyes to the sky above us, which was darkening with diming sunlight.

"I think it's time for you to bring me home. Momma always dinner done by now." I nodded swiftly, and then I walked her home, our hands were linked together.

After that day, Saimanjo and I were even more inseparable than we were before. We courted of course, but we snuck away every chance we got to do things that every couple does. However, we never got the chance to marry, though we both often spoke about it. We both knew that her mother would never allow her to marry; for fear that certain people would find them out. So, for Sanimajo's safety, we tried to keep our relationship secret from most everyone. Though, that never really works out.

Anyways, about a year after we stared courting, Saimanjo had suddenly announced to me that her mother, and her where moving to another place. She never said exactly where, though.

"Where my family could be safe." She told me with a desperate tone, trying to get to understand her. I stood there in my shop shocked.

"How could you leave me like this? Saimanjo…. I….. I need you here with me…." I knew it was useless to argue with her, but I wanted to make her stay.

"I'm sorry, Daiki, but remember, I'll be back to visit you. Until then, please don't ever change." I nodded, my heart twisting in the familiar pain."And when I see you again, I want to hold your hand, and never let go." With that said, she walked out of the shop. I looked at her retreating figure until I couldn't see her figure anymore. I felt my breathing speed up as my heart pounded hard in my chest, threatening to burst out of my chest. I gripped my area over my heart. Why? Why did I feel this pain that was worse than when my brother died? Saimanjo wasn't in my life that long, yet I felt like a part of me had died when she left. What was that feeling I had in my chest? I couldn't name it. Though, now I know it as heartbreak. My heart was ripped out by its seams. I bite my lip, trying to fight the tears that were pooling in my eyes as I gripped my chest harder. For awhile, I had been getting chest pains whenever I was stressed out, and I felt that same pain in my chest. Saimanjo had told me earlier in that month that she thought she might be with child. The fact that she had left, and broke my heart, had turned my calm, peaceful world upside down. I wanted to run after her, but my legs wouldn't move. She'll always be the one person that I regret losing…..

I did try to wait for her, and I tried to stay the same, but I felt closed off from people. I distanced myself from other people. I didn't want to love anyone. After all, when you love someone, that gives them the power to break your heart. I wasn't ever going to put myself in that position ever again. I made sure to distance myself from everyone. I would never be hurt again. Or so I thought.

About two years after Saimanjo left, I got news that she had died. My heart was shattered, and the hope that she would come back to me, was gone. I heard she was killed when she had gotten into a fight with someone. She died of an infection of those wounds. However, there were rumors that she had two kids, twins, which made me excited. If those rumors were true, then they were my own kids.

So, I set out to find these kids. I was desperate to have some sort of connection with the woman I had loved, and I'd do anything to have a piece of her back. Of course, it took me some time to find them, but they weren't where I expected them to be.

"I'm sorry. Sir. But I don't recognize that name." An elderly woman said to me in her kind, fragile voice. I felt shock go through me, and I pulled out a photo of me and Saimanjo at the festival when we first met. I showed it to the woman. Her eyes instantly lit up with recgonization."Oh I know her! That's Thoru!" I sighed a bit relived, though a bit confused. Why did Saimanjo change her name?

"I heard she had kids. Are they here?" The woman looked at me, and shook her head.

"I'm sorry young man, but I had no idea Thoru had kids. You must be looking for someone else." With that said, the woman walked away. I felt myself crumble on the inside. So, the rumors were false? I sat up against a building, and really cried. It seemed like I would never get her back.

After Saimanjo left, died, and had nothing to remind me of her, I turkey lost myself. I threw away the business I had worked hard to build in Koi, and began wondering around the world. I held no job, seeing that meant I would have to get close to someone, and but I was a criminal. At least being a criminal, I didn't have to care about the people I hung around. They were probably out for their own agenda's after all.

I threw myself so hard into the criminal world that I did change. I was closed off, cold, and more coning than ever before. When I thought back on the memoires I built with Saimanjo, I barely regcoinzed the man I once was. It was like watching a movie, and that story was about someone else. I lost myself trying to forget about all my life's pain.

So again, my tale is done. That's all I'll ever tell anyone. So you tell me… am I evil? Was I born this way? Or was I mad e this way? Sometimes, not even I can answer this question….


End file.
